J^y  the  Arrow  I  Have  Said  It  ! 


Page  120 


Q  O 


THE  FLUTE 
OF  THE  GODS 


=0= 


By 

MARAH   ELLIS  RYAN 

Author  of  "Told  in  the  Hills" 
"Indian  Love  Letters,"  "The 
Soul   of  Rafael,"  etc,  etc 


ah 


Illustrated  by 

EDWARD  S.  CURTIS 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

PUBUSHERS 


i 


Copyright,  1909 
By  Frederick  A.  Stokes  Company 


All  rights  reserved 


September,  J  909 


PREFACE 


In  romances  of  the  aborigines  of  the  so-called  New 
World  there  is  usually  presented  savage  man  or 
woman  modified  as  may  be  by  the  influence  of  Euro- 
pean mythologies  in  various  authorized  forms.  But, 
certain  people  of  this  New  World  possessed  at  least 
a  semi-civilization  centuries  before  the  coming  of 
white  conquerors. 

When  man  ceases  to  be  nomadic,  builds  houses  of 
stone  and  mortar,  terrace  upon  terrace, —  walled  and 
fortressed  against  the  enemy, —  when  he  has  fields  of 
growing  grain,  textile  fabrics,  decorated  pottery,  a 
government  that  is  a  republic,  a  priesthood  trained  in 
complex  ritual,  a  well  stocked  pantheon,  a  certain 
understanding  of  astronomy  and  psychic  phe- 
nomena, he  may  withal  be  called  barbarian,  even 
as  was  Abraham  on  Moriah  barbaric  when  the  altar 
of  his  god  called  for  sacrifice  of  his  only  son.  But  a 
people  of  such  culture  could  not  with  truth  be  called 
savage. 

The  tale  told  here  has  to  do  with  these  same  his- 
toric barbarians.  That  there  is  more  of  depth  to  the 
background  of  American  Indian  life  than  is  usually 
suggested  by  historians  has  been  made  clear  of  two 
tribes  by  Dr.  Le  Plongeon  in  his  Sacred  Mysteries  of 
the  Mayas  and  Quiches  11500  Years  Ago.  Similar 
mysteries  and  secret  orders  exist  to-day  in  the  tribes 
of  the  Mexicos  and  Arizona.  In  certain  instances 
the  names  and  meanings  of  offices  identical  with  those 
of  Yucatan  survive,  to  prove  an  ancient  intercourse 

v 


vi 


PREFACE 


between  the  Mayan  tribes  and  those  who  now  dwell 
in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande.  The  Abbe  Clavi- 
gero  left  account  of  a  thousand  years  of  the  history 
of  one  tribe  as  transcribed  by  him  from  their  own 
hieroglyphic  records.  Lord  Kingsborough  may  have 
been  far  astray  with  his  theory  that  the  people  of 
America  were  the  Lost  Tribes  of  Israel,  but  the  re- 
searches embodied  in  his  remarkable  Antiquities  of 
Mexico,  demonstrated  the  fact  that  they  were  not  a 
people  of  yesterday. 

As  to  historic  notes  used  in  this  tale  of  the  more 
northern  Sun  worshipers:  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  the  first 
European  to  cross  the  land  from  the  Mississippi  to 
Mexico  (1528-15 3 6),  left  record  in  Spanish  archives 
of  Don  Teo  the  Greek.  Castenada,  historian  for  the 
Coronado  expedition  (1540-1542),  left  reluctant 
testimony  of  the  worse  than  weird  night  in  one  In- 
dian town  of  the  Rio  Grande,  when  impress  was  left 
on  the  native  mind  that  the  strong  god  of  the  white 
conquerors  demanded  much  of  human  sacrifice.  In 
that  journal  is  record  also  of  the  devoted  Fray 
Luis,  of  whose  end  only  the  Indians  know.  In 
Soldiers  of  the  Cross  by  Archbishop  Salpointe,  there 
is  an  account  of  a  god-offering  made  in  1680  (after  al- 
most a  century  of  European  influences),  warranting 
the  chapter  describing  a  similar  sacrifice  on  the  same 
shrine  when  the  pagan  mind  was  yet  supreme  and  the 
call  of  the  primitive  gods  a  vital  thing. 

It  is  yet  so  vital  that  neither  imported  government 
nor  imported  creeds  have  quite  stamped  it  out.  Only 
the  death  of  the  elders  and  the  breaking  up  of  the 
clans  can  eradicate  it.  When  that  is  done,  the  Latin 
and  the  Anglo-Saxon  will  have  swept  from  the  heart 
of  the  land,  primitive,  conservative  cults  ancient  as 
the  Druids. 


PREFACE 


vii 


With  thanks  to  the  Indian  friends  who  have  helped 
me,  I  desire  especially  to  express  my  obligation  to 
Edward  S.  Curtis,  whose  wonderful  volumes  of  The 
North  American  Indian  have  been  an  inspiration,  and 
whose  Indian  pictures  for  this  book  of  mine  possess 
a  solid  value  in  art  and  ethnology  far  beyond  the 
mere  illustration  of  text. 

M.  E.  R. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Woman  from  the  South   i 

II.  The  Day  of  the  Sign    10 

III.  Of  the  Journey  of  Tahn-te   17 

IV.  White  Seekers  of  Treasure   28 

,V.  Tahn-te  Among  Strangers   41 

VI.  Tahn-te — the  Ruler   55 

VII.  The  Silken  Scarf   62 

VIII.  The  Story  by  the  Desert  Well     ....  73 

IX.   Yahn,  the  Apache   102 

X.   Shrines  of  the  Sacred  Places   110 

XI.   The  Maid  of  Dreams   123 

XII.   Coming  of  the  Castilians   136 

XIII.  A  Pagan  Priest  in  Council   166 

XIV.  The  Courier  and  the  Maid   200 

XV.   The  Giving  of  the  Sun  Symbol   220 

XVI.  The  True  Vision   243 

XVII.  Things  Revealed  on  the  Heights   ....  251 

XVIII.   The  Battle  of  the  Mesa   261 

XIX.   The  Apache  Death  Trap    .    .   270 

XX.  The  Choice  of  Yahn  Tsyn-deh   288 

XXI.   The  Call  of  the  Ancient  Star   297 

XXII.   At  the  Trail's  End   305 

XXIII.  The  Prophecy  of  Tahn-Te   318 

XXIV.  The  Bluebird's  Call   328 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


"  By  the  Arrow  I  Have  Said  It  ! "  Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

The  One  Town  of  Walpi  2 

The  Prayer  Token  14 

Blood  Red  Stars  in  the  Green  of  His  Crown  ....  18 

To  Don  Ruy  A  Message  in  the  Moonlight  64 

The  Place  of  the  Palms  94 

The  Prayer  of  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  108 

Yahn  at  the  Grinding  Stone  112 

Ka-Zemo  118 

The  Signal  Fire  to  the  Mountain  God  124 

And  Reached  His  Hands  to  His  Brothers  —  The  Stars  .  128 

The  Maid  of  Dreams  130 

Straight  to  Him  Drifted  the  Bluebird's  Wing  .    .    .  .134 

A  Lonely  Figure  Despite  Her  Trophies  138 

Tahn-te  Stepped  Forward  178 

The  Page  108 

Into  the  Kiva  of  Council  They  Descended  .    .  . .    .    .  206 

One  Girl  Waited  at  the  Portal  244 

In  Castilian  War  Dress  He  Stood  256 

She  Led  Him  up  the  Ancient  Stairway  282 

Only  A  Witch  Led  to  Death  3!° 

Back!   Thing  of  the  Evil  One!  324 

Tahn-te  the  Outcast  326 

Only  A  Trail  Across  the  Desert  Sands  332 


THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  WOMAN  FROM  THE  SOUTH 

ALIKSAI!    In  Tusayan  the  people  were  living ! 
It  was  the  year  after  the  year  when  the 
great  star  with  the  belt  of  fire  reached  across 
the  sky.  (1528.) 

The  desert  land  of  the  Hopi  people  stretched  yel- 
low and  brown  and  dead  from  mesa  to  mesa.  The 
sage  was  the  color  of  the  dust,  and  the  brazen  sky 
was  as  a  shield  made  hard  and  dry  by  the  will  of  the 
angry  gods.  The  Spirit  People  of  the  elements  could 
not  find  their  way  past  that  shield,  and  could  not  bear 
blessings  to  Earth  children. 

The  rain  did  not  walk  on  the  earth  in  those  days, 
and  the  corn  stood  still,  and  old  men  of  the  mesa  towns 
knew  that  the  starving  time  was  close.  In  the  kivas 
fasted  the  Hopi  priests,  the  youth  planted  prayer 
plumes  by  the  shrines  of  the  dying  wells,  and  the 
woman  danced  dances  at  sunrise,  and  all  sang  the 
prayers  to  the  gods :  —  and  each  day  the  store  of  corn 
was  lower,  and  the  seed  in  the  ground  could  not 
grow. 

In  the  one  town  of  Walpi  there  were  those  who  re- 
gretted the  seed  wasted  in  the  planting, —  it  were 
better  to  have  given  it  to  the  children,  and  even  yet 
they  might  find  some  of  it  if  the  sand  was  searched 
carefully. 

1 


2         THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  Peace  1"  said  old  Ho-tiwa,  the  Ancient  of  the 
village,  and  the  chief  of  Things  of  the  Spirit.  "  It 
is  not  yet  so  bad  as  when  I  was  a  boy.  In  that  starv- 
ing time,  the  robes  of  rabbit  skins  were  eaten  when 
the  corn  was  gone.  Yet  you  see  we  did  live  and  have 
grown  oldl  The  good  seed  is  in  the  ground,  and 
when  the  rain  comes  — " 

"When  it  comes !"  sighed  one  skeptic  —  "We 
wait  one  year  now, —  how  many  more  until  we  die?  " 

"  If  it  is  that  you  die  —  the  rain  or  the  no  rain 
makes  no  change  —  you  die  I  "  reminded  the  old  man. 
"  The  reader  of  the  stars  and  of  the  moon  says  a 
change  is  to  come.  Tell  the  herald  to  call  it  from  the 
housetops.  This  night  the  moon  is  at  the  big  circle 
—  it  may  bring  with  it  the  smile  of  the  glad  god 
again.    Tell  the  people !  " 

And  as  the  herald  proclaimed  at  the  sunset  the 
hopeful  words  of  the  priests  who  prayed  in  the  kivas, 
old  Ho-tiwa  walked  away  from  the  spirit  of  discon- 
tent, and  down  the  trail  to  the  ruins  of  Sik-yat-ki. 
All  the  wells  but  that  one  of  the  ancient  city  were 
useless,  green,  stagnant  water  now.  And  each  day 
it  was  watched  lest  it  also  go  back  into  the  sands,  and 
at  the  shrine  beside  it  many  prayers  were  planted. 

So  that  was  the  place  where  he  went  for  prayer 
when  his  heart  was  heavy  with  the  woe  of  his  people. 
And  that  was  how  he  found  that  which  was  waiting 
there  to  be  found. 

It  was  a  girl,  and  she  looked  dead  as  she  lay  by  the 
stones  of  the  old  well.  As  he  bent  over  to  see  if  she 
lived,  the  round  moon  came  like  a  second  sun  into 
the  soft  glow  of  the  twilight,  and  as  it  touched  the 
face  of  the  girl,  the  old  man  felt  the  wind  of  the 
south  pass  over  them.    Always  to  the  day  he  died 


THE  WOMAN  FROM  THE  SOUTH  3 


did  he  tell  of  how  that  south  wind  came  as  if  from 
swift  wings ! 

He  called  to  some  men  who  were  going  home  from 
rabbit  hunting  in  the  dusk,  and  they  came  and  looked 
at  the  girl  and  at  each  other,  and  drew  away. 

"  We  have  our  own  women  who  may  die  soon," 
they  said:  "Why  take  in  a  stranger?  Whence 
comes  she?  " 

No  one  had  seen  her  come,  but  her  trail  was  from 
the  south.  She  wore  the  dress  of  a  pueblo  girl,  but 
she  was  not  of  their  people.  Her  hair  was  not  cut, 
yet  on  her  forehead  she  carried  the  mark  of  a  soon- 
to-be  maternity  —  the  sacred  sign  of  the  piiion  gum 
seen  by  Ho-tiwa  when  he  went  as  a  boy  for  the  seed 
corn  to  the  distant  Te-hua  people  by  the  river  of  the 
east. 

"  I  come  here  with  prayer  thoughts  to  the  water," 
said  the  old  man  noting  their  reluctance, — "  and  I 
find  a  work  put  by  my  feet.  The  reader  of  the  skies 
tells  that  a  change  is  to  come  with  the  moon.  It  is 
as  the  moon  comes  that  I  find  her.  The  gods  may 
not  be  glad  with  us  if  our  hearts  are  not  good  at  this 
time." 

"  But  the  corn  — " 

"  The  corn  I  would  eat  can  go  to  this  girl  for  four 
days.  I  am  old,  but  for  so  long  I  will  fast, —  and 
maybe  then  the  gods  will  send  the  change." 

So  the  girl  was  carried  to  his  house,  and  the  women 
shrank  away,  and  were  afraid  —  for  the  clouds  fol- 
lowed the  wind  swiftly  from  the  south,  and  the  face 
of  the  moon  was  covered,  and  at  the  turn  of  the  night 
was  heard  the  voice  of  a  man  child  —  new  born  of 
the  strange  girl  found  by  the  well  in  the  moonlight. 
Ho-tiwa  in  the  outer  room  of  the  dwelling  heard  the 


4         THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


voice  —  and  more  than  the  child  voice,  for  on  the 
breath  of  the  wind  across  the  desert  the  good  rain 
came  walking  in  beauty  to  the  fields,  and  the  glad 
laughter  of  the  people  went  up  from  the  mesa,  and 
there  was  much  patter  of  bare  feet  on  the  wet  stone 
floor  of  the  heights  —  and  glad  calls  of  joy  that  the 
desert  was  to  live  again ! 

And  within  the  room  of  the  new  birth  the  women 
stared  in  affright  at  the  child  and  at  each  other,  for  it 
was  most  wonderfully  fair  —  not  like  any  child  ever 
seen.  This  child  had  hair  like  the  night,  eyes  like 
the  blue  of  the  sky,  and  face  like  the  dawn. 

One  man  among  them  was  very  old,  and  in  his 
youth  had  known  the  Te-hua  words.  When  the  girl 
spoke  he  listened,  and  told  the  thing  she  said,  and  the 
women  shrank  from  her  when  it  was  told. 

"  She  must  be  a  medicine-woman,  for  she  knows 
these  things,"  she  said,  "  and  these  things  are  sacred 
to  her  people.  She  says  that  the  blade  of  a  sacrifice 
must  mark  her  child,  for  the  boy  will  not  be  a  child 
as  other  children.''  And  at  the  mention  of  the  knife 
the  people  stared  at  each  other. 

"  There  is  such  a  knife,"  said  Ho-tiwa.  "  It  be- 
longs to  the  Ancient  Days,  and  only  the  gods,  and 
two  men  know  it.  It  shall  be  as  she  says.  The  god 
of  the  sky  has  brought  the  woman  and  has  brought 
the  child,  and  on  the  face  of  the  child  is  set  the  light 
of  the  moon  that  the  Hopi  people  will  never  again 
doubt  that  the  gods  can  do  these  things." 

And  there  was  a  council  at  which  all  the  old  men 
talked  through  the  night  and  the  day.  And  while 
they  talked,  the  rain  poured  in  a  flood  from  the  gray 
sky,  until  men  said  this  might  be  magic,  for  the 
woman  might  have  brought  witchcraft. 


THE  WOMAN  FROM  THE  SOUTH  5 


But  the  old  chief  said  no  evil  craft  could  have 
brought  the  good  rain: — The  wind  and  the  rain 
had  come  from  the  south  as  the  girl  had  come  from 
the  south,  and  the  light  on  the  face  of  the  child  was 
a  symbol  that  it  was  sacred. 

Then  one  man,  who  had  been  an  Apache  prisoner, 
and  found  his  way  back,  told  of  a  strange  thing;  — 
that  forty  days  to  the  south  where  the  birds  of  the 
green  feathers  were,  a  new  people  had  come  out  of 
the  Eastern  sea,  and  were  white.  The  great  kings 
made  sacrifices  for  them,  and  planted  prayer  plumes 
before  them  —  for  they  were  called  the  new  gods 
of  the  water  and  the  sunrise. 

And  the  girl  had  come  from  the  south ! 

Yet  another  reminded  the  council  that  the  words 
of  the  girl  were  Te-hua  words,  and  the  Te-hua  people 
lived  East  of  Ci-bo-la  and  Ah-ko  —  the  farthest  east 
of  the  stone  house  building  people. 

"  Since  these  are  her  only  words,  the  child  shall 
be  named  in  the  way  of  that  people,"  said  Ho-tiwa. 
"  The  sacred  fire  was  lit  at  the  birth,  and  on  the 
fourth  morning  my  woman  will  give  the  name  in  the 
Te-hua  way,  and  throw  the  fire  to  burn  all  evil  from 
his  path,  and  the  sacred  corn  will  guard  his  sleep. 
Some  of  you  younger  men  never  have  heard  of  the 
great  Te-hau  god.  Tell  it  to  them,  Atoki,  then  they 
will  know  why  a  Te-hua  never  sends  away  a  poor 
stranger  who  comes  to  them." 

The  man  who  knew  Te-hua  words,  and  had  seen 
the  wonderful  Te-hua  valley  in  his  youth,  sent  smoke 
from  his  ceremonial  pipe  to  the  four  ways  the 
gods,  and  then  to  the  upper  and  nether  worlds,  and 
spoke : 

. "  Aliksai!    I  will  tell  of  the  Te-hua  god  as  it  was 


6  THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


told  to  me  by  the  old  man  of  Kah-po  in  the  time  of 
starving  when  I  went  with  the  men  for  the  sacred 
corn  of  the  seed  planting : 

"  The  thing  I  tell  is  the  true  thing ! 

"  It  was  time  for  a  god  to  walk  on  the  earth,  and 
one  was  born  of  the  pinon  tree  and  a  virgin  who 
rested  under  the  shadow  of  its  arms.  The  girl  was 
very  poor,  and  her  people  were  very  poor  ;  when  the 
pinon  nut  fell  in  her  bosom,  and  the  winds  told  her 
a  son  was  sent  to  her  to  rest  beneath  her  heart,  she 
was  very  sad,  for  there  was  no  food. 

"  But  wonderful  things  happened.  The  Spirits  of 
the  Mountain  brought  to  her  home  new  and  strange 
food,  and  seeds  to  plant  for  harvest :  —  new  seeds 
of  the  melon,  and  big  seed  of  the  corn :  —  before 
that  time  the  seeds  of  the  corn  were  little  seeds. 
When  the  child  was  born,  strange  things  happened, 
and  the  eagles  fly  high  above  till  the  sky  was  alive 
with  wings.  The  boy  was  very  poor,  and  so  much 
a  boy  of  dreams  that  he  was  the  one  to  be  laughed  at 
for  the  visions.  But  great  wise  thoughts  grew  out 
of  his  mountain  dreams,  and  he  was  so  great  a 
wizard  that  the  old  men  chose  him  for  Po-Ahtun-ho, 
which  means  Ruler  of  Things  from  the  Beginning. 
And  the  dreamer  who  had  been  born  of  the  maid  and 
the  pinon  tree  was  the  Ruler.  He  governed  even  the 
boiling  water  from  the  heart  of  the  hills,  and  taught 
the  people  that  the  sickness  was  washed  away  by  it. 
His  wisdom  was  beyond  earth  wisdom,  and  his 
visions  were  true.  The  land  of  that  people  became 
a  great  land,  and  they  had  many  blue  stones  and 
shells.  Then  it  was  that  they  became  proud.  One 
day  the  god  came  as  a  stranger  to  their  village :  —  a 
poor  stranger,  and  they  were  not  kind  to  him !  The 
proud  hearts  had  grown  to  be  hard  hearts,  and 


THE  WOMAN  FROM  THE  SOUTH  7 


only  fine  strangers  would  they  talk  with.  He  went 
away  from  that  people  then.  He  said  hard  words 
to  them  and  went  away.  He  went  to  the  South  to 
live  in  a  great  home  in  the  sea.  When  he  comes  back 
they  do  not  know,  but  some  day  he  comes  back, —  or 
some  night!  He  said  he  would  come  back  to  the 
land  when  the  stars  mark  the  time  when  they  repent, 
and  one  night  in  seven  the  fire  is  lit  on  the  hills  by 
the  villages,  that  the  earth-born  god,  Po-se-yemo,  may 
see  it  if  he  should  come,  and  may  see  that  his  people 
are  faithful  and  are  waiting  for  him  to  come. 

"  Because  of  the  day  when  the  god  came,  and  they 
turned  him  away  for  that  his  robe  was  poor,  and  his 
feet  were  bare;  —  because  of  that  day,  no  poor  person 
is  turned  hungry  from  the  door  of  that  people.  And 
the  old  men  say  this  is  because  the  god  may  come 
any  day  from  the  South,  and  may  come  again  as  a 
poor  man. 

"  And  this  was  told  to  us  by  the  Te-hua  men  when 
we  went  for  seed  corn  in  that  starving  time,  and  were 
not  sent  away  empty.    A liksail  " 

The  men  drew  long  breaths  of  awe  and  approval 
when  the  story  was  ended.  The  old  man  who  had 
found  the  girl  knew  that  the  girl  had  found  friends. 

But  the  mysterious  coincidence  of  her  coming  as 
the  rain  came  —  and  from  the  south  —  and  the  fair 
child! 

Again  the  man  who  had  been  a  prisoner  with  the 
Apaches  was  asked  to  tell  of  the  coming  of  the  white 
gods  in  the  south  where  the  Mexic  people  lived.  He 
knew  but  little.  No  Apache  had  seen  them,  but  In- 
dian traders  of  feathers  had  said  it  was  so. 

The  men  smoked  in  silence  and  then  one  said:  — 
"  Even  if  it  be  so,  could  the  girl  come  alone  so  far 
through  the  country  of  the  hostile  people?  " 


8         THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  There  is  High  Magic  to  help  sometimes,"  re- 
minded the  old  chief.  "  When  magic  has  been  used 
only  for  sacred  things  it  can  do  all  things !  We  can 
ask  if  she  has  known  a  white  god  such  as  the  trader 
told  of  to  our  enemies." 

And  the  two  oldest  men  went  to  the  house  of  Ho- 
tiwa's  wife,  and  stood  by  the  couch  of  the  girl,  and 
they  sprinkled  sacred  meal,  and  sat  in  prayer  before 
they  spoke. 

And  the  girl  said,  "  My  name  is  Mo-wa-the  (Flash 
Of  Light)  and  the  name  of  my  son  is  Tahn-te  (Sun- 
light). We  may  stay  while  these  seeds  grow  into 
grain,  and  into  trees,  and  bear  harvest.  But  not 
always  may  we  be  with  you,  for  a  God  of  the  Sky 
may  claim  his  son." 

And  she  took  three  seeds  from  the  fold  of  the 
girdle  she  had  worn.  They  were  strange  seeds  of 
another  land. 

The  old  men  looked  at  each  other,  and  remembered 
that  to  the  mother  of  the  Te-hua  god,  strange  seeds 
had  been  given,  and  they  trembled,  and  the  man  of 
the  Te-hau  words  spoke : 

"  You  come  from  the  south  where  strange  things 
may  happen.  On  the  trail  of  that  south,  heard  you 
or  saw  you  —  the  white  god?  " 

And  she  drew  the  child  close,  and  looked  in  its 
face,  and  said,  "  Yes  —  a  white  god !  —  the  God  of 
the  Great  Star." 

And  the  old  men  sprinkled  the  sacred  meal  to  the 
six  points,  and  told  the  council,  and  no  one  was  al- 
lowed to  question  Mo-wa-the  ever  again. 

The  seeds  were  planted  near  the  well  of  Sik-yat-ki, 
and  grew  there.  One  was  the  tree  of  the  peach, 
another  of  the  yellow  pear,  and  the  grain  was  a  grain 
of  the  wheat.    The  pear  tree  and  the  wheat  could 


THE  WOMAN  FROM  THE   SOUTH  9 


not  grow  well  in  the  sands  of  the  desert,  only  enough 
to  bring  seed  again,  but  the  peach  grew  in  the  shadow 
of  the  mesa,  and  the  people  had  great  joy  in  it,  and 
only  the  men  of  the  council  knew  they  came  from  the 
gods. 

And  so  it  was  in  the  beginning. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  SIGN 

MO-WA-THE ,—  the  mother  of  Tahn-te, 
drew  with  her  brush  of  yucca  fibre  the 
hair-like  lines  of  black  on  the  ceremonial 
bowl  she  was  decorating.  Tahn-te,  slender,  and 
nude,  watched  closely  the  deft  manipulations  of  the 
crude  tools ;  —  the  medicine  bowls  for  the  sacred  rites 
were  things  of  special  interest  to  him  —  for  never  in 
the  domestic  arrangement  of  the  homes  of  the  terraces 
did  he  see  them  used.  He  thought  the  serrated  edges 
better  to  look  at  than  the  smooth  lines  of  the  home 
dishes. 

"  Why  can  I  not  know  what  is  that  put  into  them  ?  " 
he  demanded. 

"  Only  the  Ancient  Ruler  and  the  medicine-men 
know  the  sacred  thing  for  i  Those  Above.'  " 

He  wriggled  like  a  beautiful  bronze  snake  to  the 
door  and  lay  there,  his  chin  propped  on  his  hands, 
staring  out  across  the  plain  —  six  hundred  feet  be- 
low their  door  —  only  a  narrow  ledge  —  scarcely 
the  length  of  the  boy's  body:  —  divided  the  wall  of 
their  home  from  the  edge  of  the  rock  mesa. 

Mo-wa-the  glanced  at  him  from  time  to  time. 

"  What  thoughts  do  you  think  that  you  lie  still  like 
a  kiva  snake  with  your  eyes  open?"  she  said  at  last. 

"  Yes,  I  think,"  he  acknowledged  with  the  gravity 
of  a  ceremonial  statement,  "  These  days  I  am  think- 
ing thoughts  —  and  on  a  day  I  will  tell  them." 

10 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  SIGN  11 


"  When  a  boy  has  but  few  summers  his  thoughts 
are  not  yet  his  own,"  reminded  Mo-wa-the. 

"  They  are  here  —  and  here !  "  his  slender  brown 
hand  touched  his  head,  and  heart, —  "  How  does  any 
other  take  them  out  —  with  a  knife?  Arc  they  not 
me?" 

"  Boy!  The  old  men  shall  take  you  to  the  kiva 
where  all  the  youth  of  the  clan  must  be  taught  how 
to  grow  straight  and  think  straight." 

"  Will  they  teach  me  there  whose  son  I  am?"  he 
demanded. 

Her  head  bent  lower  over  the  sacred  bowl,  but 
she  made  no  lines.    He  saw  it,  and  crept  closer. 

"  Am  I  an  arrow  to  you  ?  "  he  asked  — "  sometimes 
your  face  goes  strange  like  that,  and  I  feel  like  an 
arrow, —  I  would  rather  be  a  bird  with  only  prayer 
feathers  for  you  I  " 

She  smiled  wistfully  and  shook  her  head. 

"You  are  a  prayer;  —  one  prayer  all  alone,"  she 
said  at  last.  "  I  cannot  tell  you  that  prayer,  I  only 
live  for  it." 

"  Is  it  a  white  god  prayer?  "  he  asked  softly. 

She  put  down  the  bowl  and  stared  at  him  as  at  a 
witch  or  a  sorcerer;  —  one  who  made  her  afraid. 

"  I  found  at  the  shrine  by  the  trail  the  head  you 
made  of  the  white  god,"  he  whispered.  "No  one 
knows  who  made  it  but  me.  I  saw  you.  I  am  tell- 
ing not  any  one.    I  am  thinking  all  days  of  that  god." 

"That?"— 

"Is  it  the  great  god  Po-se-yemo,  who  went 
south?  "  he  whispered.  "  Do  you  make  the  prayer 
likeness  that  he  may  come  back?  " 

"  Yes,  that  he  may  come  back !  " 

"  My  mother;  —  you  make  him  white !  " 

She  nodded  her  head. 


12       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"I  am  whiter  than  the  other  boys;  —  than  all 
the  boys !  " 

She  picked  up  the  bowl  again  and  tried  to  draw 
lines  on  it  with  her  unsteady  fingers. 

"  And  you  talk  more  than  all  the  boys,"  she  ob- 
served. 

"Did  the  moon  give  me  to  you?"  he  persisted. 
"  Old  Mowa  says  I  am  white  because  the  moon 
brought  me." 

"  It  is  ill  luck  to  talk  with  that  woman  —  she  has 
the  witch  charm." 

"  When  I  am  Ruler,  the  witches  must  live  in  the 
old  dead  cities  if  you  do  not  like  them." 

Mo-wa-the  smiled  at  that. 

"  Yes,  when  you  are  Ruler.  How  will  you  make 
that  happen?  " 

"  All  these  days  I  have  been  thinking  the  thoughts 
how.  If  the  moon  brought  me  to  you,  that  means 
that  my  father  was  not  like  others ;  —  not  like  mesa 
men." 

"  No  —  not  like  mesa  men !  "  she  breathed  softly. 

Mo-wa-the  was  very  pretty  and  very  slender. 
Tahn-te  was  always  sure  no  other  mother  was  so 
pretty, —  and  as  she  spoke  now  her  dark  eyes  were 
beautified  by  some  memory, —  and  the  boy  saw  that 
he  was  momentarily  forgotten  in  some  dream  of  her 
own. 

"  No  one  but  me  shall  gather  the  wood  for  the 
night  fire  to  light  Po-se-yemo  back  from  the  south 
lands,"  he  said  as  he  rose  to  his  feet  and  stood  straight 
and  decided  before  his  mother.  "  The  moon  will 
help  me,  and  your  white  god  will  help  me,  and  when 
he  sees  the  blaze  and  comes  back,  you  will  tell  him 
it  was  his  son  who  kept  the  fire !  " 

He  took  from  his  girdle  the  downy  feather  of  an 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  SIGN  13 


eagle,  stepped  outside  to  the  edge  of  the  mesa  and 
with  a  breath  sent  it  beyond  him  into  space.  A  cur- 
rent of  air  caught  it  and  whirled  it  upwards  in  token 
that  the  prayer  was  accepted  by  Those  Above. 

And  inside  the  doorway,  Mo-wa-the,  watching,  let 
fall  the  medicine  bowl  at  this  added  evidence  that  an 
enchanted  day  had  come  to  the  life  of  her  son.  Not 
anything  he  wanted  to  see  could  be  hidden  from  him 
this  day!  Powerless,  she  knelt  with  bent  head  over 
the  fragments  of  the  sacred  vessel  —  powerless 
against  the  gods  who  veil  things  —  and  who  unveil 
things ! 

It  was  the  next  morning  that  Mo-wa-the  stood  at 
the  door  of  Ho-tiwa  the  Ancient  one;  —  the  spirit- 
ual head  of  the  village. 

"  Come  within,"  he  said,  and  she  passed  his 
daughters  who  were  grinding  corn  between  the  stones, 
and  singing  the  grinding  song  of  the  sunrise  hour. 
They  smiled  at  her  as  she  passed,  but  with  the  smile 
was  a  deference  they  did  not  show  the  ordinary  neigh- 
bor of  the  mesas  in  Hopi  land. 

The  old  man  motioned  her  to  a  seat,  and  in  silence 
they  were  in  the  prayer  which  belongs  to  Those  Above 
when  human  things  need  counsel. 

Through  the  prayer  thoughts  echoed  the  last  thril- 
ling notes  of  the  grinding  songs  at  the  triumph  of 
the  sun  over  the  clouds  of  the  dusk  and  the  night. 

Mo-wa-the  smiled  at  the  meaning  of  it.  It  was 
well  that  the  prayer  had  the  music  of  gladness. 

"  Yes,  I  come  early,"  she  said.  "  I  come  to  see 
you.    The  time  is  here." 

"The  time?" 

"  The  time  when  I  go.  Always  we  have  known 
it  would  be  some  day.  The  day  is  near.  I  take  my 
son  and  go  to  his  people." 


14        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  My  daughter:  —  his  people  he  does  not  know." 

"  My  father:  —  no  one  but  the  winds  have  told 
him  —  yet  he  knows  much !  He  has  said  to  me  the 
things  by  which  I  feel  that  he  knows  unseen  things. 
I  told  him  long  ago  that  the  stars  as  they  touch  the 
far  mesa  in  the  night  are  like  the  fires  our  people 
build  to  light  our  god  back  from  the  south.  Yester- 
day he  tells  me  he  wants  to  be  the  builder  of  that 
fire  and  serve  that  god.  My  father  in  this  strange 
land :  —  my  son  belongs  to  the  clan  whose  duty  it  is 
to  guard  that  fire !  I  never  told  him.  Those  Above 
have  told  him.  I  have  waited  for  a  sign.  The  gods 
have  sent  it  to  me  through  my  son  —  we  are  to  go 
across  the  desert  and  find  our  people." 

"  It  is  a  thing  for  council,"  decided  her  host. 
"  The  way  is  far  to  the  big  river, —  it  is  not  good 
that  you  go  alone.  Men  of  Ah-ko  will  come  when 
they  hear  us  stamp  the  foot  for  the  time  of  the  gather- 
ing of  the  snakes.  When  they  come,  we  will  make 
a  talk.  If  it  is  good  that  you  go,  you  will  find 
brothers  who  will  show  the  trail." 

"That  is  well;"  and  Mo-wa-the  arose,  and  stood 
before  him.  "  You  have  been  my  brother,  and  you 
have  been  my  father,  and  my  son  shall  stay  and  see 
once  more  the  rain  ceremony  of  the  Blue  Flute 
people,  and  of  the  Snake  people,  and  when  he  goes 
to  his  own  land,  he  can  tell  them  of  the  great  rain 
magic  of  the  Hopi  Priests." 

"  He  can  do  more  than  that,"  said  the  Ancient. 
"  In  council  it  has  been  spoken.  Your  son  can  be 
one  of  us,  and  the  men  of  the  Snake  Order  will  be 
as  brothers  to  him  if  ever  he  comes  back  to  the  mesa 
where  the  Sun  Father  and  the  Moon  Mother  first 
looked  on  his  face.  In  the  days  of  the  Lost  Others, 
all  the  people  had  Snake  Power,  as  they  had  power 


THE  DAY  OF  THE  SIGN  15 


of  silent  speech  with  all  the  birds,  and  the  four-foot 
brothers  of  the  forests.  Only  a  few  have  not  lost  it, 
and  the  Trues  send  all  their  Spirit  People  to  work 
with  that  few.  Your  son  may  take  back  to  your 
people  the  faith  they  knew  in  the  ancient  days." 

So  it  was  that  the  boy  watched  the  drama  of  the 
Flute  people  from  the  mesa  edge  for  the  last  time. 
The  circle  of  praying  priests  at  the  sacred  well; 
virgins  in  white  garments  facing  the  path  of  the 
cloud  symbols  that  the  rain  might  come ;  —  weird 
notes  of  the  flute  as  the  chanters  knelt  facing  the 
medicine  bowl  and  the  sacred  corn;  then  the  com- 
ing of  the  racers  from  the  far  fields  with  the  great 
green  stalks  of  corn  on  their  shoulders,  and  the  gold 
of  the  sunflowers  in  the  twist  of  reeds  circling  their 
brows.  He  did  not  know  what  the  new  land  of  his 
mother's  tribe  would  bring  him,  but  he  thought  not 
any  prayer  could  be  more  beautiful  than  this  glad 
prayer  to  the  gods.  Of  that  prayer  he  talked  to 
Mo-wa-the. 

Then  eight  suns  from  that  day,  he  went  from  his 
mother's  home  to  the  kiva  of  the  Snake  Priests,  and  he 
heard  other  prayers,  and  different  prayers,  and  when 
the  sun  was  at  the  right  height,  for  four  days  they 
left  the  kiva  in  silence,  and  went  to  the  desert  for  the 
creeping  brothers  of  the  sands.  To  the  four  ways 
they  went,  with  prayers,  and  with  digging-sticks.  He 
had  wondered  in  the  other  days  why  the  men  never 
spoke  as  they  left  the  kiva,  and  as  they  came  back 
with  their  serpent  messengers  for  the  gods.  After 
the  first  snake  was  caught,  and  held  aloft  for  the 
blessing  of  the  sun,  he  did  not  wonder. 

He  had  shrunk,  and  thought  it  great  magic  when 
the  brief  public  ceremony  of  the  Snake  Order  was 
given  before  the  awe-struck  people :  —  It  had  been  a 


16       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


matter  of  amaze  when  he  saw  the  men  he  knew  as 
gentle,  kind  men,  holding  the  coiling  snake  of  the  rat- 
tles to  their  hearts  and  dance  with  the  flat  heads 
pressed  against  their  painted  cheeks. 

But  the  eight  days  and  nights  in  the  kiva  with  these 
nude,  fasting,  praying  men,  had  taught  him  much, 
and  he  learned  that  the  most  wonderful  thing  in  the 
taming  of  the  serpents  was  not  the  thing  to  which 
the  people  of  the  dance  circle  in  the  open  were  witness. 
He  was  only  a  boy,  yet  he  comprehended  enough  to 
be  awed  by  the  strong  magic  of  it. 

And  of  that  prayer  of  the  serpents  he  talked  not 
at  all  to  Mo-wa-the. 

And  the  Ancient  knew  it,  and  said.  "  It  is  well! 
May  he  be  a  great  man  —  and  strong !  " 

From  a  sheath  of  painted  serpent  skin  the  Ruler 
drew  a  flute  brown  and  smooth  with  age. 

"  Le-lang-uh,  the  God  of  the  Flute  sent  me  the 
vision  of  this  when  I  was  a  youth  in  prayer,1'  he  said 
gently.  "  I  found  it  as  you  see  it  long  after  I  had 
become  a  man.  On  an  ancient  shrine  uncovered  by 
the  Four  Winds  in  a  wilderness  I  found  it.  I  have 
no  son  and  I  am  old.  I  give  it  to  you.  Strange 
white  gods  are  coming  to  the  earth  in  these  days,  and 
in  the  south  they  have  grown  strong  to  master  the 
people.  I  will  be  with  the  Lost  Others  when  you 
are  a  man,  but  my  words  here  you  will  not  forget;  — 
the  magic  of  the  sacred  flute  has  been  for  ages  the 
music  of  the  growing  things  in  the  Desert.  The  God 
of  the  Flute  is  a  god  old  as  the  planting  of  fields,  and 
a  strong  god  of  the  desert  places.  It  may  be  that 
he  is  strong  to  lead  you  here  once  more  to  your 
brothers  on  some  day  or  some  night  —  and  we  will  be 
glad  that  you  come  again.  For  this  I  give  the  flute 
of  the  vision  to  you.    I  have  spoken.    Lolomi  1  " 


CHAPTER  III 


OF  THE  JOURNEY  OF  TAHN-TE 

THE  journey  of  Tahn-te  to  his  mother's  land 
of  the  East  was  the  wonder  journey  of  the 
world !  There  were  medicine-men  of  Ah- 
ko  for  their  guides,  and  the  people  were  many  who 
went  along,  so  no  one  was  afraid  of  the  Navahu  of 
the  hill  land. 

And  a  new  name  was  given  to  his  mother.  Ho- 
tiwa  gave  her  the  name,  and  put  on  her  head  the 
water  of  the  pagan  baptism  to  wash  away  that  which 
had  been.  The  new  name  was  Saa-hanh-que-ah  and 
it  meant  the  "  Woman  who  has  come  out  from  the 
mists  of  a  Shadow  or  Twilight  Land."  And  they 
all  called  her  by  that  name,  and  the  men  of  Ah-ko 
regarded  her  with  awe  and  with  respect,  and  listened 
in  silence  when  she  spoke. 

For  the  first  time  the  boy  saw  beyond  the  sands  of 
the  desert,  and  in  the  high  lands  touched  the  running 
water  of  living  springs,  and  scattered  meal  on  it  with 
his  prayers,  and  bathed  in  the  stream  where  green 
stems  of  rushes  grew,  and  braided  for  himself  a 
wreath  of  the  tasselled  pine. 

"  Ai-ai!  "  said  his  mother  softly, — "  to  the  people 
of  my  land  the  pine  is  known  as  the  first  tree  to  come 
from  the  Mother  Earth  at  the  edge  of  the  ice  robe 
on  her  bosom.  So  say  the  ancients,  and  fv  r  that 
reason  is  it  sacred  to  the  gods  —  and  to  the  sacrifices 
of  gods.  Have  you,  my  son,  woven  a  crown  of 
sacrifice?  " 

17 


18        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


But  Tahn-te  laughed,  and  thrust  in  it  the  scarlet 
star  blossom  growing  in  the  timber  lands  of  the 
Navahu. 

"  If  I  am  made  sacrifice  I  will  have  a  blood  strong, 
living  reason,"  he  said,  with  the  gay  insolence  of  a 
young  god  walking  on  the  earth. 

But  the  older  men  did  not  smile  at  the  bright 
picture  he  made  with  the  blood-red  stars  in  the  green 
of  his  crown.  They  knew  that  even  untried  youth 
may  speak  prophet  words,  and  they  made  prayers  that 
the  wise  woman  of  the  twilight  land  might  not  see  the 
day  when  her  son  became  that  which  he  had  spoken. 

He  carried  with  him  a  strange  burden :  —  an  urn 
or  jar  of  ancient  days  dug  from  one  of  the  buried 
cities  of  the  Hopi  deserts.  On  it  was  the  circle  of 
the  plumed  serpent,  and  the  cross  of  red  and  of  white. 
It  was  borne  on  his  back  by  a  netted  band  of  the 
yucca  fibre  around  his  brow,  and  in  it  were  young 
peach  trees,  and  pear  trees  —  the  growing  things 
of  the  mystic  seeds  given  to  the  medicine-men  of  the 
Hopi  the  day  of  the  boy's  birth. 

Seeds  also  were  being  carried,  but  it  was  the  wish 
of  the  mother  that  her  son  carry  the  growing  things 
into  the  great  valley  of  the  river  Po-son-ge. 

Even  into  the  great  rift  of  the  earth  called  Tze-ye 
did  he  carry  it,  where  the  cliff  homes  of  the  Ancient 
Others  lined  the  sides  of  the  canon  and  the  medicine- 
men of  Ah-ko  spoke  in  hushed  tones  because  of  the 
achoing  walls,  and  of  the  strong  gods  who  had  dwelt 
there  in  the  days  before  men  lived  and  died. 

"  The  dead  of  the  Ancient  ones  are  hidden  in  many 
hollow  places  of  the  stone,"  explained  one  of  the  men 
who  spoke  the  language  of  Te-hua  people.  "  And 
it  is  good  medicine  for  the  man  who  can  walk  be- 


lood-Red  Stars  in  the  Green  of  His  Crown 

Page  18 


OF  THE  JOURNEY  OF  TAHN-TEl  19 


tween  these  walls  where  the  Divine  Ones  of  old  made 
themselves  strong.    You  do  not  fear?  " 

"  I  do  not  fear,"  said  Saa-hanh-que-ah,  the  woman 
of  the  twilight,  "  and  my  son  does  not  fear.  Before 
he  was  born  to  the  light  of  the  Sun  Father,  I  made  the 
trail  from  the  level  land  of  the  west  where  the  snow 
is,  to  the  deep  heart  of  the  world  where  the  plants 
have  blossoms  in  winter  time,  and  the  birds  sing  for 
summer.  Beside  it  this  deep  step  down  from  the 
world  above  is  like  the  thickness  of  your  finger  against 
the  height  of  a  tall  man." 

The  men  stared  at  her  in  wonder,  and  Tahn-te 
listened,  but  could  not  speak  when  the  older  men 
were  silent. 

"  There  is  such  a  place,"  said  the  oldest  of  the  men. 
u  It  is  to  the  sunset.  The  water  comes  strong  there, 
and  it  is  a  place  of  the  gods,  as  this  place  is.  And 
you  have  seen  it  with  your  eyes?  " 

"  I  have  seen  it,  and  the  water  that  is  so  strong 
looks  from  the  top  like  this  reed  of  this  ancient 
dwelling  place,"  said  Saa-hanh-que-ah,  and  she  pointed 
to  the  waving  slender  lattice  grass  of  the  canon. 

"  I  have  heard  of  it,  but  our  people  do  not  cross 
it  in  these  days,"  said  the  old  man.  "  Our  friends 
the  Te-huas  cross  it  —  and  cross  a  desert  beyond  when 
they  go  to  the  Love  Dance  of  the  Chinig-Chinik  who 
live  by  the  sunset  sea.  In  my  youth  I  thought  to  go, 
but  old  age  is  here  and  I  have  not  yet  seen  it."  Then 
after  an  inteval  of  thoughtful  silence  he  said:  — 
"  You  have  crossed  that  river  in  the  heart  of  the 
world  —  I  did  not  know  that  women  went  to  the 
Love  Dance." 

"  I  can  not  tell  you.  I  also  do  not  know,"  said 
Saa-hanh-que-ah  quietly,  and  the  boy  saw  that  the 


20        THE  FLtTTE  OE  THE  GODS 


eyes  of  all  the  men  were  directed  strangely  to  his 
mother.  "  I  do  not  belong  to  the  Order  from  which 
the  people  are  sent  to  the  Dance  of  Love  or  the 
Dance  of  Death.  My  eyes  have  not  seen  the  waters 
of  the  sunset  sea." 

"  Then  you  did  not  go  beyond  the  river  in  the 
heart  of  the  rocks  ?  "  asked  the  old  man.  "  You 
did  not  cross  over?  " 

"  I  did  cross  over.  I  have  seen  the  sands  of  that 
far  desert  of  which  you  speak.  I  have  seen  the  trees 
of  which  one  leaf  will  cover  a  man  from  the  sun,  and 
more  leaves  will  make  a  cover  for  a  dwelling.  I 
have  seen  the  water  run  there  at  the  roots  of  those 
trees  as  this  water  runs  in  the  shadow  of  this  rock, 
and  —  ai !  —  ai-ah  !  I  have  seen  it  sink  in  the  sands 
when  it  was  needed  most  —  and  have  heard  it  gurgle 
its  ghost  laugh  beneath  the  hot  trail  where  the  desert 
lost  one  wandered." 

Her  head  bent  forward  and  her  hands  covered  her 
eyes.  The  boy  wanted  to  ask  where  this  place  was 
of  which  he  was  hearing  so  much  for  the  first  time. 
What  was  there  in  the  wonderful  journey  of  the  wise 
woman  to  make  the  tears  come  and  her  voice  tremble  ? 
But  the  old  Shaman  of  Ah-ko  reached  out  his  hand 
and  touched  her  bent  head. 

"  It  is  true,  my  daughter  of  the  Te-hua,  that  the 
Snake  priest  of  the  Hopitu  told  in  council  that  high 
medicine  was  yours.  Yet  all  he  could  not  tell  me. 
You  have  lived  much,  oh  woman !  Yet  your  heart 
is  not  hard,  and  your  thoughts  run  clear  as  the  snow 
water  of  the  high  hills.  It  is  well  that  you  have 
come  with  us,  and  that  you  have  talked  with  us. 
When  the  hidden  water  mocks  with  laughter  so  far 
beneath  the  desert  sand  that  no  man  lives  to  reach 
it:  —  then  it  is  that  men  die  beside  the  place  their 


OF  THE  JOURNEY  OF  TAHN-TE  21 


bleeding  hands  dig  deep.  You  have  heard  that 
laughter,  and  have  lived,  and  have  brought  back  your 
child  out  of  the  sands  of  death.  It  has  given  you 
the  medicine  for  your  son  that  is  strong  medicine. 
You  have  lived  to  walk  with  us  and  that  is  well." 

"  Yes,  thanks  this  day,  it  is  well,"  said  the  other 
men. 

At  Ah-ko,  "  the  city  of  the  white  rock,"  the  silent, 
shy  Medicine-Woman  of  the  Twilight  and  her  son 
were  feasted  like  visiting  rulers  of  a  land. 

To  his  Wonder  they  sang  songs  of  thanks  that  the 
gods  had  left  her  come  to  them  once  again,  and  they 
asked  that  she  make  prayers  with  them. 

The  woman  with  whom  the  rain  and  the  sweet 
fruit  had  come  to  the  far  desert  was  a  woman  to  be 
feasted  and  propitiated  —  all  the  more  that  she  dis- 
claimed aught  of  the  divine  for  herself;  but  when 
they  spoke  of  her  son  she  was  silent.  His  life  was 
his  own  in  which  to  prove  what  he  might  be. 

Here  he  saw  no  girls  with  the  head  bands  for  their 
burden  of  water  bottles  as  in  Tusayan.  He  saw  in- 
stead the  beautifully  poised  vases  on  the  heads  of  the 
women  while  they  paced  evenly  over  the  rock  of  the 
mesa  or  the  treacherous  sand  hills,  and  the  great 
walled  reservoir  of  shining  green  water  was  a  constant 
source  of  delight  to  him.  Eight  times  the  height  of 
a  man  was  the  depth  of  it,  and  at  the  very  bottom  in 
an  unseen  crevice  was  the  living  spring  pulsing  out  its 
heart  for  the  long  line  of  women  who  brought  their 
decorated  jars  to  be  filled. 

The  evening  of  their  arrival  he  found  his  mother 
there  in  the  shadow  of  the  high  rock  walls. 

"  Are  you  sad,  my  mother,  that  you  walk  alone 
and  sit  in  the  shadow?  "  he  asked,  but  she  shook  her 
head. 


22        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  I  come  because  this  place  of  the  deep  water  is 
precious  to  me,"  she  said.  "  Make  your  prayer  here, 
my  son,  make  your  prayer  for  the  people  who  thirst 
in  the  desert  of  this  earth  life.  There  are  many 
deserts  to  cross,  and  the  enchanted  hills  and  the  en- 
chanted wells  of  content  are  but  few  on  the  trail." 

He  made  the  prayer,  and  scattered  the  sacred  pollen 
of  the  corn  to  the  four  ways,  and  again  took  up  his 
query. 

"  The  enchanted  mesa  Kat-zi-mo  I  have  seen  and 
already  the  men  have  told  me  its  story,"  he  said. 
"  But  of  this  well  there  is  no  story  except  that  in  the 
ages  ago  the  water  was  brought  high  with  the  wall, 
and  when  the  Apache  enemies  came,  the  people  could 
not  starve  for  water  even  while  the  fighters  fought  a 
long  time.  That  is  all  the  story  —  there  is  no  magic 
in  that." 

"  There  is  always  magic  in  the  waters  of  the 
desert,"  and  the  Woman  of  the  Twilight.  "  One  other 
time  I  drank  of  the  water  of  this  well.  It  was  en- 
chanted that  time,  for  every  moving  light  and  shadow 
on  its  face  have  I  remembered  all  the  days  and  all  the 
nights.  Give  me  to  drink  of  it  now  with  your  own 
hands,  and  it  will  be  then  precious  for  two  reasons." 

He  did  as  she  said,  and  wanted  to  ask  of  that  other 
time  and  could  not. 

"  Thanks  this  day,  thanks  for  my  son,"  she  said 
and  sprinkled  water  to  the  four  ways  and  drank. 
"Not  again  shall  I  see  you  —  oh  joy  place  in  the 
desert!  Give  your  magic  to  my  son  that  he  may 
carry  it  to  the  free  running  water  of  his  own  land !  " 

In  Tusayan  his  mother  had  been  to  him  Mo-wa-the, 
the  pottery  maker  who  made  the  finest  of  all  vessels, 
but  on  the  wonder  trail  in  the  new  lands  he  found  that 
she  was  strangely  learned.    And  when  she  spoke  of 


OF  THE  JOURNEY  OF  TAHN-Tfi  23 


the  place  of  the  well  on  the  high  mesa  and  said  it  was 
precious  for  magic  there,  he  walked  silent  and  awed 
beside  her,  for  the  magic  world  held  the  Great 
Mystery,  and  only  through  prayer  must  it  be  spoken. 

He  knew  that  his  lot  was  more  fortunate  than  that 
of  any  other  boy  alive,  an  the  long  trail  where  each 
night  around  the  camp  fire  the  men  told  tales  of  the 
Ancient  days  when  gods  walked  on  the  earth  and 
taught  wisdom  to  the  people.  Each  tribe  had  its  own 
sacred  truths  given  by  its  own  gods,  and  he  was  learn- 
ing of  many.  In  the  great  canon  of  Tze-ye  —  the 
abiding  place  of  the  Navahu  Divine  Ones,  he  had 
heard  with  awe  of  the  warrior  boy  gods  who  were 
born  of  the  Sun  and  of  the  Goddess  Estsan-atlehi  and 
set  out  to  slay  the  terrific  giants  of  evil  in  the  world. 
But  the  medicine-men  of  Ah-ko  were  quite  sure  that 
the  Ancient  Ones  of  their  own  race  had  proof  that  the 
Supreme  Power  is  a  master  mind  in  a  woman's  form. 
It  is  the  thing  which  thinks  and  creates,  and  her  twin 
sister  is  the  other  mind  which  only  remembers. 
Prayers  must  not  be  said  to  the  goddess  who  only 
remembers  —  but  many  prayers  belong  to  the  goddess 
who  creates.  And  the  most  beloved  of  all  is  the 
goddess  E-yet-e-ko  (Mother  Earth)  who  nourishes 
them  all  their  days.  He  learned  that  they  planted 
their  corn  and  their  cotton  by  the  stars  and  the  plum 
blossoms,  in  the  way  his  mother  said  they  did  by  the 
river  of  her  land,  also  that  the  great  bear  of  the  stars 
was  called  by  them  the  great  animal  of  cold  weather, 
and  that  the  Sun  had  eight  children,  or  wandering 
stars  in  the  sky. 

He  heard  many  more  things,  but  the  wisdom  of  it 
was  too  deep  for  a  boy  to  know,  and  the  words  of  the 
symbols  were  new,  and  not  for  his  understanding. 
How  big  —  how  very  big  the  world  of  the  Tusayan 


24        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


desert  had  seemed  to  him  as  he  stood  on  the  mesa  of 
Walpi  and  looked  to  the  south  where  old  Awatabi 
(the  high  place  of  the  Bow)  stood  in  its  pride,  and 
rugged  Mishongnavi  with  her  younger  sister  Shup- 
aulevi  against  the  sky,  so  beautiful,  that  the  sacred 
mountain  Dokoslid  of  the  far  away,  looks  sometimes 
like  a  cloud  back  of  those  villages,  and  sometimes  like 
the  shell  of  the  big  water  from  which  its  name  was 
taken. 

But  all  those  wonderful  Hopi  mesas  with  their 
fortresses  on  each,  were  within  the  running  time  of  a 
morning,  and  not  in  any  of  them  were  there  forests 
or  living  streams,  or  strange  new  things.  Only  the 
clouds  and  the  shadow  of  the  clouds  on  the  sand, — 
or  the  sun  and  the  glory  of  the  sun  on  the  world,  made 
the  heart  leap  with  the  beauty  of  the  land  of  the  Hopi 
people.    But  here  were  new  things  each  day. 

When  the  boys  of  Ah-ko  in  friendly  rivalry  ran  races 
and  leaped  great  spaces,  and  shot  arrows  into  a  melon 
with  him  —  and  then  ate  the  melon  !  —  they  asked 
how  many  years  he  had  lived  and  he  laughed  and  did 
not  know. 

"  I  had  so  many,"  he  said  holding  up  the  fingers  of 
both  hands  and  pointing  to  his  eyes, — "  When  I  fol- 
lowed your  men  down  the  trail  from  Walpi  in  Hopi 
land.  But  I  have  seen  so  much,  and  lived  so  much 
that  I  must  be  very  old  now !  " 

This  the  boys  thought  a  great  jest,  and  said  since 
he  was  old  he  could  not  run  races,  or  see  straight  to 
shoot,  and  he  must  let  himself  be  beaten.  But  the 
boys  who  tried  to  beat  him  were  laughed  at  by  the 
old  men  who  watched,  and  he  was  given  a  very  fine 
bow  to  take  on  his  journey,  and  never  any  boy  crossed 
those  lands  so  joyously  as  he  who  carried  all  the  way 
the  growing  sprouts  of  the  new  trees. 


OF  THE  JOURNEY  OF  TAHN-TE  25 


And  at  Ah-ko  a  little  tree  from  the  urn,  and  some 
of  the  seeds  were  given,  but  the  winter  to  come  was  a 
hard  winter,  and  the  ice  killed  them,  so  the  fruit  from 
the  strange  far-off  trails  was  not  for  Ah-ko. 

They  had  rested,  and  were  about  to  depart,  when 
Tahn-te,  watching  with  other  boys  the  war  between 
two  eagles  poised  high  above  the  enchanted  mesa,  saw 
on  the  plain  far  below  the  figure  of  an  Indian  runner, 
his  body  a  dark  moving  line  against  the  yellow  bloom 
spread  like  a  great  blanket  of  flowers  from  Mount 
Spin-eh  down  and  across  the  land. 

He  only  watched  because  the  man  ran  well  —  al- 
most as  well  as  a  Hopi  —  and  did  not  see  in  the 
glistening  bronze  body  the  herald  of  a  new  day  in  the 
land. 

At  the  edge  of  the  cliff  they  watched  to  see  him 
appear  and  disappear  in  the  length  of  the  great  stair- 
way of  the  fortress.  Some  day  each  boy  among  them 
would  also  be  a  runner  in  his  turn  for  ceremonial 
reasons,  and  it  is  well  to  note  how  the  trusted  men 
make  the  finish. 

It  is  not  easy  to  run  up  the  two  hundred  foot  wall 
of  Ah-ko  at  the  end  of  a  long  trail,  but  this  man, 
conscious  of  watchers,  leaped  the  last  few  steps  and 
stood  among  them.  Only  an  instant  he  halted,  in 
surprise  face  to  face  with  the  boy  Tahn-te  who  stood 
nude  and  fair  beside  dark  companions. 

Tahn-te  was  accustomed  to  the  curious  regard  of 
strangers  who  visited  the  country  of  Tusayan.  He 
had  heard  so  often  that  he  was  a  child  of  the  sky  that 
this  explanation  of  his  fairer  skin  seemed  to  him  a 
very  clear  and  logical  explanation  of  the  case. 

But  after  the  runner  had  been  listened  to  by  the 
governor  and  fed,  and  a  herald  from  the  terraced 
housetop  had  called  aloud  the  startling  message 


26       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


brought  by  him  to  the  people  of  Ah-ko,  the  boy  went 
away  from  the  other  boys,  and  wrinkled  his  brows 
in  boyish  thought,  and  stared  across  to  the  ancient 
crater  of  Se-po-chineh  until  his  mother  sought  him, 
and  found  him. 

"  You  are  weary,  my  son,  that  you  come  alone 
from  the  others?  " 

44  The  others  only  talk  yet  tell  nothing,"  he  said 
gloomily,  "  and  of  that  which  the  runner  tells  I  wish 
to  hear  much.  You  hear  what  he  says  of  white  men 
like  gods  who  come  from  the  south  searching  for  the 
blue  stones  and  the  stone  of  the  sun  lire,  and  taming 
strange  beasts  to  carry  them  on  their  way?" 

"  Yes,  it  is  true,  I  hear,"  she  said. 

"  And  you  think  it  is  magic?  Is  it  that  they  are 
gods  —  or  demons  —  or  men  like  these  men?  " 

"  If  they  were  gods  would  they  not  know  where  the 
stones  of  the  sunlight  are  hidden  in  the  earth?  " 

"  Are  they  children  of  the  moon  or  the  sun,  or  the 
stars  that  they  are  white?  "  he  demanded. 

"  It  may  be  so,"  she  said  very  lowly,  conscious  that 
his  gloomy  eyes  were  trying  to  make  her  see  what  he 
felt,  but  she  must  not  see,  and  she  spoke  with  averted 
head. 

Then  he  rose  and  stood  erect  and  stretched  out  his 
arms  their  widest  and  surveyed  himself  with  measur- 
ing gaze  and  a  certain  pride,  but  the  other  thought 
came  back  with  its  gloom  and  he  laughed  shortly  with 
disdain  of  himself. 

"  I  have  felt  stronger  than  all  the  boys  —  always ! 
Do  you  know  why  that  has  been?  I  know  now  why 
—  it  was  because  I  stood  alone, —  I  was  the  only 
child  of  the  light  and  I  dreamed  things  of  that. 
Now  a  man  tells  us  there  are  many  such  people,  and 


OF  THE  JOURNEY  OF  TAHN-TE  27 


their  magic  is  great,  and  my  strength  goes  because  of 
the  many !  " 

His  mother  stroked  his  hand  reassuringly.  "  Na- 
vin  (my  own) ,"  she  said  steadily.  "  I  have  felt  your 
dreams,  and  I  also  dream  them.  Fear  no  one  born 
of  the  light  or  of  the  darkness,  and  when  you  are  a 
man  you  will  have  all  your  strength  —  and  more  than 
your  own  strength." 

"  You  say  that,  my  mother?  " 

She  held  her  head  erect  now  and  looked  straight 
and  steadily  into  the  eyes  of  her  son. 

"I  say,  it  I" 

And  he  remembered  that  it  was  more  than  his 
mother  who  spoke,  it  was  the  Medicine  Woman  of  the 
Twilight  and  of  the  strange  places,  and  the  far  off 
thoughts. 

He  lifted  her  hand  and  breathed  on  it.  "  I  am 
again  Tahn-ti,"  he  said,  and  smiled.  "  tYou  make 
me  find  myself  1  " 


CHAPTER  IV 


WHITE  SEEKERS  OF  TREASURE 

WHEN  Alvarado  marched  his  band  of  ad- 
venturers into  the  pueblo  Ua-lano  to  the 
sound  of  tom-toms  and  flutes  of  welcome, 
an  Indian  woman  with  a  slender  boy  stood  by  the 
gate  and  watched  the  welcome  of  the  strangers. 

An  exceedingly  reckless,  rakish  lot  they  were  — 
this  flower  of  the  Mexican  forces  who  the  Viceroy 
was  only  too  willing  should  explore  all  lands,  and  seas, 
so  they  kept  themselves  away  from  the  capitol. 

The  women  and  the  children  shrank  back  as  the 
horses  clattered  in.  Some  laughed  to  cover  their 
fear,  others  threw  prayer  meal,  and  their  fright  made 
the  commander  notice  the  blanketed  figure  of  the 
woman  whose  eyes  alone  shone  above  the  draperies 
held  close,  and  who  stared  so  keenly  into  each  white 
face  as  they  passed. 

"  Who  is  the  dame  in  the  mask  of  the  blanket?  " 
he  asked  of  his  host  Chief  Bigotes  —  the  courteous 
barbarian  who  had  crossed  seventy  leagues  of  the 
desert  to  ask  that  his  village  be  honored  by  the  god- 
like ones  from  the  south. 

Bigotes  looked  at  her,  did  not  know,  but  after  in- 
quiring came  back  and  spoke. 

"  It  is  a  strange  thing  but  it  is  true,"  said  the  in- 
terpreter, "  she  is  called  the  One  from  the  Twilight 
Land.  She  went  as  a  girl  from  Te-hua  to  Ah-ko  for 
study  with  the  medicine  people  of  one  order  there. 

28 


WHITE  SEEKERS  OF  TREASURE  29 


One  night  it  was  as  if  she  go  into  the  earth,  or  up  in 
the  sky.  No  one  ever  see  her  any  more.  It  was  the 
year  of  the  fire  of  the  star  across  the  sky.  Now  she 
comes  from  the  west  and  so  great  a  medicine  woman 
is  she  that  leading  men  are  sent  to  guard  her  on  the 
trail  to  the  Te-hua  people  —  and  to  guard  her  son." 

"  Faith!  Your  strangers  are  a  handsome  pair. 
The  boy  would  make  a  fine  page  in  a  civilized  land. 
He  is  the  fairest  Indian  I've  seen." 

The  boy  knew  that  his  mother  and  himself  were 
objects  of  query,  and  stood  stolid,  erect  and  disdain- 
ful,—  the  stranger  should  see  that  all  their  clanking 
iron,  their  dominating  swagger,  and  their  trained  an- 
imals could  not  make  him  move  an  eyelash  of  wonder. 

But  to  his  mother  he  said: 

"  They  have  much  that  we  will  need  if  we  ever 
fight  them;  their  clanking  clothes  and  shields  can 
break  many  arrows." 

"  Why  do  you  talk  of  fighting?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  why.  It  is  all  I  thought  of  as  I 
looked  at  them." 

One  thing  interested  him  more  than  all  else,  and 
that  was  a  man  in  a  grey  robe  who  carried  a  book,  and 
turned  the  pages  in  absorbed  meditation;  sometimes 
his  reading  was  half  aloud,  and  Tahn-te  slipped  near 
each  time  he  could,  for  to  him  it  looked  as  if  the  man 
talked  to  the  strange  white  paper. —  He  thought  it 
must  be  some  sort  of  high  magic,  and  of  all  he  saw 
in  the  new  comers,  he  coveted  most  of  the  contents  of 
those  pages, —  it  was  more  wonderful  than  the  clang- 
ing metal  of  their  equipment. 

A  tiny  elf-like  girl  followed  Tahn-te  as  a  lost  puppy 
would,  until  he  asked  her  name,  and  was  told  it  was 
Yahn  —  that  she  lived  in  Povi-whah  by  the  big  river 
and  that  her  mother  was  visiting  some  society  of 


SO       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


which  she  was  a  member, —  that  she  was  in  the  kiva 
and  could  not  be  seen  for  four  days  and  nights,  and  in 
the  coming  of  the  beasts  and  the  strangers,  her  care- 
taker had  lost  her,  and  the  home  where  she  had  stayed 
last  night  she  did  not  know. 

She  knew  only  she  was  lost,  and  some  boys  had 
told  her  that  the  new  kind  of  beasts  ate  little  girls. 
She  did  not  weep  or  call,  but  she  tried  to  keep  her 
little  nude  body  out  of  sight  behind  Tahn-te  if  a  horse 
or  a  mule  turned  its  head  in  the  direction  she  was. 

So  glad  she  was  to  be  protected  that  she  told  him 
all  her  woes  in  the  strange  town.  The  greatest  was 
that  a  dog  had  taken  from  her  hand  the  roasted  ear  of 
corn  she  had  been  eating,  and  she  wished  Ka-yemo 
was  there,  he  would  have  maybe  killed  the  dog. 

Inquiry  disclosed  the  fact  that  Ka-yemo  was  not  her 
brother ;  he  lived  in  Provi-whah.  Her  own  name  was 
Yahn.  No :  —  it  was  not  a  Te-hua  name.  It  was 
Apache,  for  her  mother  was  Apache  —  and  the  Te- 
hua  men  had  caught  her  when  they  were  hunting,  and 
always  her  mother  had  told  Yahn  to  stay  close  to  the 
houses,  for  hunting  enemies  might  bear  her  away  into 
slavery  —  and  Yahn  was  not  certain  but  these  men  on 
the  beasts  might  be  hunters. 

She  was  very  tiny,  and  she  spoke  imperfectly,  but 
shyness  was  not  a  part  of  her  small  personality,  and 
she  insisted  on  making  herself  understood.  To 
Tahn-te  she  seemed  like  a  boy  rather  than  a  girl,  and 
he  called  her  Pa-ah-de  which  is  the  Te-hna  word  for 
"  brother  " —  and  later  he  gave  her  to  his  mother  to 
keep  her  out  of  the  way  of  the  horses  and  the  strange 
men. 

And  thus  it  was  that  Tahn-te,  and  Apache  Yahn 
saw  together  the  strange  visitors  from  the  south,  and 
Yahn,  though  but  a  baby,  thought  they  might  be 


WHITE  SEEKERS  OF  TREASURE  31 


hunters  whom  it  would  be  as  well  to  hide  from,  and 
Tahn-te  thought  much  of  the  coats  of  mail,  and  how 
lances  could  be  made  to  pierce  the  joints. 

He  heard  the  name  of  the  man  with  the  black  robe 
and  the  magic  thing  of  white  leaves  from  which  he 
talked  —  or  which  talked  to  him !  —  it  was  "  Padre  " 
—  there  was  also  another  name  and  it  was  "  Luis." 
It  meant  the  same  as  "  Father  Ho-tiwa  "  or  "  Brother 
Tahn-te." 

To  the  man  from  whom  the  rakish  Spanish  soldiers 
bent  the  knee  and  removed  the  covering  from  the 
head,  Tahn-te  felt  no  antagonism  as  he  did  for  the 
men  who  carried  the  arquebus  and  swords.  The 
man  who  is  called  "  Father  "  or  the  woman  who  is 
called  "Mother  "  with  the  Indian  people,  is  a  person 
to  whom  respect  is  due,  and  through  Bigote  he  had 
heard  —  by  keeping  quiet  as  a  desert  snake  against  a 
wall  —  that  the  man  of  the  grey  robe  who  was  called 
"  Father  "  was  the  great  medicine-man  of  the  white 
tribe.  Through  him  the  god  of  the  white  man  spoke. 
In  the  leaves  of  the  white  book  were  recorded  this 
god's  laws,  and  even  these  white  men  who  were  half 
gods,  and  had  conquered  worlds  beyond  the  big 
water  of  the  South,  and  of  the  East,  bent  their  knees 
when  the  man  of  the  robe  spoke  of  the  sacred 
things. 

Of  these  things  he  spoke  to  his  mother,  and  was 
amazed  to  learn  that  she  knew  of  the  white  man's 
gods,  and  the  white  men's  goddess.  Never  had  she 
talked  to  him  of  this,  and  she  did  not  talk  to  him  much 
now.  She  only  told  him  that  all  she  knew  would  be- 
long to  him  when  the  time  came,  and  that  the  time 
seemed  coming  fast  —  but  it  was  not  yet.  [When  he 
was  older  he  could  know. 

iWhen  he  talked  to  her  of  the  many  white  pages  in 


32        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


which  the  white  god  had  written,  she  told  him  that 
much  wisdom  —  and  strong  magic  must  be  there. 
The  white  men  had  no  doubt  stolen  for  their  earth- 
born  god  the  birth  story  of  Po-se-yemo,  the  god  of  her 
own  people.  But  his  magic  had  been  great  in  that 
land  across  the  seas  and  that  people  had  written  words 
of  the  earth-born  god  as  had  certain  tribes  of  Mexico, 
and  all  that  the  god  said  and  did  had  been  written 
plainly  as  had  been  written  the  records  of  Quetzel- 
coatle  of  the  South,  and  it  was  not  good  that  their  own 
tribe  had  not  the  written  records  of  their  gods. 

"  It  may  be  that  the  time  has  come  to  make  such 
records,'*  said  Tahn-te,  "  our  people  should  not  be 
behind  the  other  people." 

"  We  have  no  written  words," — said  his  mother; 
— "  our  head  men  who  govern  have  only  the  deerskin 
writings  of  Ki-pah  the  wise,  who  lived  long  ago  and 
did  much  for  the  people  of  Kah-po  and  Oj-ke,  and  the 
people  of  the  river." 

"  Of  him  I  have  not  heard,"  said  Tahn-te  — "  was 
he  a  god? " 

"  No  —  no  god,  but  he  lived  and  worked  as  a  god. 
He  came  to  this  land  before  the  day  of  my  grand- 
fathers. When  the  time  is  come,  the  men  of  my 
father's  people  will  tell  you  the  work  he  did  in  our 
valley,  and  what  he  said.  So  will  tell  you  the  old 
men  of  Provi-whah  and  the  old  men  of  Kah-po.  He 
came  to  a  land,  not  to  one  people,  and  on  the  deerskin 
he  painted  things  never  seen  but  by  the  wise  men  who 
know  how  to  read  it." 

The  boy  stared  moodily  into  the  sun  swept  court  of 
Ua-lano.  There  were  so  many  things  in  the  world  of 
which  no  one  had  ever  told  him  ! 

"  If  I  am  very  good,  and  say  very  many  prayers, 
and  wait  on  the  gods  very  carefully,  will  the  wise  men 


WHITE   SEEKERS  OF  TREASURE  33 


of  the  medicine  orders  tell  me  of  the  deerskin  records 
some  day?  "  he  demanded. 

"  Some  day  —  it  may  be  so,"  she  conceded. 

"  Good!  I  will  think  of  that  each  day  as  the  sun 
comes  up !  "  he  stated.  "  And  the  magic  of  the  white 
man's  writings  I  will  learn  for  myself.  It  is  a  thing 
which  is  not  kept  for  sacred  places,  and  no  prayers  are 
needed  for  that !  " 

The  woman  of  mystery  regarded  him  strangely,  yet 
spoke  no  word.  The  magic  of  the  white  conquerors 
was  wonderful  magic  to  her,  yet  she  could  not  ask 
her  son  why  he  only  spoke  of  them  as  ever  beyond 
some  wall  which  they  must  not  cross, —  and  of  their 
knowledge  as  strong  knowledge,  yet  not  sacred  knowl- 
edge. 

Between  the  woman  and  her  son  there  was  often  a 
wall  of  silence.  Even  her  love  could  not  cross  it. 
There  were  always  spoken  or  unspoken  questions 
which  she  left  without  answers.  He  was  only  learn- 
ing this  in  the  wonderful  journey  of  the  desert  lands, 
and  he  asked  fewer  questions, —  but  looked  at  her 
more.    And :  —  she  knew  that  also ! 

The  man  of  the  talking  white  leaves,  and  the  grey 
gown  set  in  the  center  of  the  court  a  white  cross,  and 
all  the  soldiers  knelt,  and  in  front  of  the  dwellings  the 
brown  people  knelt  also  —  which  the  Christians 
deemed  a  special  dispensation  that  so  many  heathen 
had  been  brought  so  quickly  to  their  knees  at  the 
mere  sight  of  the  holy  symbol.  And  in  the  morning 
Father  Luis  decided  he  would  baptize  all  of  them, 
and  have  a  high  mass  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls, 
The  boy  who  watched  the  book  so  closely,  was,  he 
felt  sure,  a  convert  at  mere  sight  of  the  white  leaves, 
and  the  heathen  mother  would  no  doubt  clamor  also 
for  sanctification. 


34        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


But  in  the  early  dusk  of  the  morning  the  boy  and 
his  mother  were  on  the  trail  for  the  home  valley  of  the 
river  Po-son-ge  of  which  he  had  dreamed.  With 
them  were  people  of  Kah-po,  and  people  of  Provi- 
whah  and  the  Apache  woman  and  her  child  Yahn. 
Yahn  made  some  one  carry  her  most  of  the  hard 
trails,  and  talked  much,  and  asked  many  things  of  the 
little  growing  trees  in  the  old  urn  of  ancient  Tusayan. 

And  when  they  came  in  sight  of  the  sacred  mesa, 
Tuyo,  a  runner  was  sent  ahead  to  tell  the  governor 
and  the  head  men  of  the  strange  new  people  of  the 
clanking  iron  at  Ua-lano,  and  the  wonderful  and  be- 
lated home-coming  of  the  lost  woman  of  many  years' 
mystery. 

Because  of  this  they  were  met  at  the  edge  of  the 
mesa  by  many,  and  the  Woman  of  the  Twilight  knelt 
and  touched  the  feet  of  the  governor  and  asked  that 
the  gate  of  the  valley  be  open  to  her  and  to  her  son. 
And  Tahn-te  knelt  also  and  offered  the  growing 
things. 

11  These  are  sacred  things  of  which  the  Ruler  must 
speak,"  said  the  governor.  "  I  am  but  for  one  short 
summer  and  winter,  but  the  Ruler  is  for  always.  Of 
the  new  things  to  bear  fruit  we  still  speak  in  council, 
—  also  of  the  new  people  trading  a  new  white  god  for 
blue  stones,  and  painted  robes." 

But  Tahn-te  knew  that  a  welcome  was  theirs,  for 
the  governor  would  not  have  come  outside  the  walls 
except  it  had  been  so,  and  the  old  man  watched  keenly 
the  delight  of  the  boy  as  the  river  of  that  land  came 
clear  before  him  spread  at  the  foot  of  the  wide  table 
land,  and  the  great  plain  below.  Trees  grew  there, 
and  between  them  the  running  water  shone  in  the  sun. 
The  Black  Mesa  Tuyo,  Mesa  of  the  Hearts,  arose 


WHITE  SEEKERS  OF  TREASURE  35 


from  the  water  edge, —  a  great  dark  monument  of 
mystic  rites,  and  wondrous  records  of  the  time  when  it 
had  been  a  breathing  place  for  the  Powers  in  the  heart 
of  the  earth.  The  rocks  were  burned  so  red  it  always 
seemed  that  the  fire  was  still  under  them.  And  south 
was  the  God-Maid  mesa :  —  its  outline  as  the  face  of 
a  maid  upturned  to  the  sky. 

Beyond  the  river  stretched  the  yellow  corn  fields  — 
the  higher  land  like  a  rugged  red  skeleton  from  which 
the  soil  had  been  washed, —  and  beyond  that  was  the 
great  uplift  of  the  pine-clad  mountains  where  the 
springs  never  failed,  and  the  deer  were  many. 

Wild  fowl  fluttered  and  dove  in  the  waters  of  the 
river,  grey  pigeons  flew  in  little  groups  from  the  trail ; 
as  they  walked,  two  men  in  canoes  caught  fish  where 
a  little  stream  joined  the  big  water  of  Po-son-ge  —  in 
every  direction  the  boy  was  conscious  of  a  richer,  fuller 
life  than  any  he  had  yet  seen.  His  mother  was  right 
—  her  people  were  a  strong  people !  and  their  villages 
were  many  in  the  valleys  of  the  river. 

In  Povi-whah  the  clan  of  the  Arrow  Stone  people 
welcomed  the  Twilight  Woman  as  their  own,  and  the 
men  and  women  who  had  journeyed  with  her  from 
Ua-lano  looked  glad  to  have  journeyed  with  her, — 
they  had  to  answer  many  questions. 

Tahn-te  also  had  much  practise  in  the  Te-hua 
words  when  he  tried  to  tell  them  what  the  peach 
was  like,  and  what  the  pear  was  like,  and  the  youth 
were  skeptical  as  to  peaches  big  as  six  plums. 

A  boy  larger  than  he  flipped  with  a  willow  wand 
at  the  urn  with  the  little  trees,  and  told  him  that  in 
Provi-whah  a  boy  was  whipped  if  he  lied  too  often ! 

"  How  many  times  may  a  boy  lie  and  not  be 
whipped?"   asked  Tahn-te,   and  the   other  boys 


36        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


laughed,  and  one  stripling  gave  him  a  fillet  of  otter 
skin  in  approval,  and  said  his  name  was  Po-tzah,  and 
that  their  clan  was  the  same. 

But  the  tiny  Yahn  who  looked  from  face  to  face, 
and  saw  the  anger  in  the  face  of  the  boy  of  the  willow 
wand,  caught  the  switch  and  brought  it  down  with  all 
the  force  of  her  two  chubby  arms  on  the  nurslings 
brought  from  Hopi  land. 

Tahn-te  caught  her  and  lifted  her  beyond  reach  of 
the  urn. 

"  I  should  have  let  the  strange  beasts  of  the  iron 
men  eat  you,"  he  said.  "  You  shall  go  hungry  for 
peaches  if  you  kill  the  trees !  " 

The  others  laughed  as  she  wriggled  clear  —  and 
lisped  threats  even  while  keeping  out  of  range  of  his 
strong  hands. 

"  Always  she  is  a  little  cat  of  the  hills  to  fight  for 
Ka-yemo,"  said  Po-tzah.  "  Little  Ka-yemo  will 
some  day  grow  enough  to  fight  alone !  " 

Ka-yemo  scowled  at  them,  and  muttered  things, 
and  sauntered  away.  He  was  the  largest  of  all  of 
them,  but  one  boy  does  not  fight  six ! 

Yahn  was  in  such  a  silent  rage  that  she  twitched 
and  bent  the  willow  until  it  was  no  longer  any  thing 
but  a  limp  wreck :  —  she  would  break  something ! 

"  That  is  the  Apache!  "  said  Po-tzah.  "  I  think 
that  baby  does  not  forget  to  fight  even  when  she 
sleeps." 

The  little  animal  flung  an  epithet  at  him  and  ran 
after  the  sulky  Ka-yemo :  —  evidently  her  hero  and 
idol. 

The  mother  of  Tahn-te  was  called  in  council  for 
things  of  which  Tahn-te  was  not  to  know.  But  he 
learned  that  she  was  of  the  society  of  the  Rulers:  — 
that  from  which  the  spiritual  head  was  selected  when 


WHITE  SEEKERS  OF  TREASURE  37 


the  Po-Ahtun-ho  or  Ruler  no  longer  walked  on  the 
earth. 

After  the  council  sacred  meal  was  sprinkled  on  the 
trees  in  the  urn,  and  the  priests  of  the  order  of  Po-Ah- 
tun  divided  them  between  the  Winter  people,  and  the 
Summer  people,  that  it  be  proven  which  the  care  of 
the  new  fruit  would  belong  to  for  prayers,  and  each 
planted  them  by  their  several  signs  in  the  sky.  His 
mother  spoke  to  him  when  alone  and  told  him  he  was 
now  to  do  a  boy's  work  in  the  village,  and  his  training 
must  begin  for  the  ceremonies  of  high  orders  into 
which  the  council  wished  him  to  enter. 

"  To  serve  our  people?  " 

"  Yes :  —  it  will  be  so  —  to  serve  our  people." 

"  Since  it  is  to  be  like  that,  may  I  also  speak?  " — 
he  asked.  "  May  I  not  speak  to  the  men  who  de- 
cide? I  have  thought  of  this  each  day  since  Ua-lano. 
At  some  time  I  must  speak:  —  is  not  this  the  time?  " 

"  It  may  be  the  time,"  she  assented.  "  We  will  go 
to  the  old  men  of  the  orders.  It  may  be  they  will 
listen." 

All  night  they  listened,  and  all  night  they  talked, 
and  the  old  men  looked  at  the  mother  strangely  that 
the  son  should  speak  the  words  of  a  man  in  council. 

"  Thanks  that  you  let  me  speak,"  he  said. 
"  Thanks !  It  is  true  what  you  hear  of  the  white 
gold-hunter's  magic.  It  is  strong.  It  is  good  that 
we  find  out  how  it  is  strong.  My  mother  tells  you 
how  the  Snake  priests  of  Tusayan  make  me  of  their 
order,  so  that  I  can  know  that  magic  for  the  rain 
ceremony.  In  my  hands  also  was  given  the  Flute  of 
Prayer  to  the  desert  gods,  and  to  know  Hopi  prayers 
does  not  hurt  me  for  a  Te-hua :  —  it  is  Te-hua  prayers 
my  mother  teaches  me  always !  So  it  will  not  hurt  me 
to  learn  the  magic  of  the  men  of  iron.    They  are 


38        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


strong  and  they  will  be  hard  to  fight.  The  grey 
robe  man  is  the  man  who  teaches  of  their  gods.  He 
teaches  it  from  magic  white  leaves  in  his  hand,  on  the 
leaves  there  are  words  —  other  iron  men  can  talk 
from  them,  but  only  the  grey  robe  is  the  priest  and 
teaches.  He  would  teach  me  if  I  would  serve  him 
—  then  I  could  have  their  magic  with  our  own." 

"  It  may  be  evil  magic,"  said  one. 

"  It  tames  the  strange  beasts  as  the  Hopi  prayers 
tame  the  snakes,"  replied  the  boy  — "  and  every  day 
the  beasts  do  work  for  these  people." 

The  old  men  nodded  assent  —  it  certainly  must  be 
strong  magic  to  do  that ! 

But  a  man  of  the  Tain-tsain  clan  arose. 

"  This  woman  has  been  gone  many  moons  on  a 
strange  trail,"  he  said.  "  The  son  she  brings  back 
to  her  clan  speaks  not  as  a  youth  speaks.  It  is  as  if 
he  has  been  very  old  and  grows  young  again.  It  may 
be  magic  —  and  again  it  may  be  that  he  is  half  lost 
in  his  mind  and  dreams  the  dreams  of  a  man.  It  is 
a  new  thing  that  men  listen  to  a  child  in  council." 

Then  Ka-ye-fah  the  aged  Po-Ahtun-ho  made  a 
sign  for  silence,  and  sat  with  closed  eyes,  and  it  was 
very  quiet  in  the  council  until  he  spoke. 

"  You  have  brought  a  big  thought  out  of  the  world 
of  the  Spirit  People,  Phen-tza,"  he  said.  "  It  has 
been  given  to  you  to  say,  and  that  is  well!  It  has 
been  given  to  me  to  see  —  and  I  see  with  prayer. 
When  the  God-thought  is  sent  to  earth  people  is  it  not 
true  that  the  child  of  dreams,  or  the  man  of  dreams, 
is  the  first  to  hear  or  to  feel  that  thought?  Was  not 
the  earth-born  god,  Po-se-yemo,  called  a  youth  that 
was  foolish?  Was  he  not  laughed  at  by  the  clans 
until  he  wept?  Was  he  not  made  ashamed  until  out 
of  his  pain  there  grew  a  wisdom  greater  than  earth- 


WHITE  SEEKERS  OF  TREASURE  39 


wisdom?  Let  us  think  of  these  things,  anil  let  us 
hear  the  words  of  the  child  who  dreams." 

"  It  is  well,"  said  another,  "  even  when  half  the 
mind  is  gone,  it  may  be  gone  only  a  little  while  on 
the  twilight  trail  to  the  Great  Mystery. 

"  The  life  music  comes  in  many  ways,"  said  Ka-ye- 
fah,  the  Ruler.  "  Many  reeds  grow  under  the  sum- 
mer sun,  but  not  in  all  of  them  do  we  hear  the  call  of 
the  spirit  people  when  the  wild  reed  is  fashioned  for 
the  flute.  The  gods  themselves  grow  the  flutes  of 
High  Mystery.  This  youth  is  only  a  reed  by  the 
river  to-day  —  yet  through  such  reed  the  gods  may 
send  speech  for  our  ears." 

"  We  will  listen,"  said  the  others.  "  Let  us  hear 
more  of  the  men  whose  blankets  are  made  of  the  hard 
substance."  And  at  this  Tahn-te  again  took  courage 
and  spoke. 

"  These  iron  men  say  they  are  only  on  a  hunting 
trail  —  they  say  they  will  not  trouble  the  people  — 
that  is  what  their  men  say  who  speak  for  them !  But 
if  one  boy,  or  one  man,  could  talk  as  they  talk,  you 
men  of  Povi-whah  would  know  better  if  they  speak 
straight.  My  mother  has  found  the  trail  to  her 
people  on  the  right  day,  and  has  brought  me  here. 
I  want  to  be  the  boy  who  learns  that  talk  of  the  hunters 
of  the  blue  stones  and  sacred  sun  metal  of  the  earth, 
and  then  I  can  come  back  and  tell  it  to  the  wise  men 
of  my  mother's  people." 

"  But  you  may  not  come  back." 

"  I  will  ask  all  the  Powers  that  I  will  come  back. 
My  mother  will  pray  also,  and  her  prayers  are 
strong." 

"  I  will  pray  also,"  said  Saa-hanh-que-ah. 
The  men  smoked,  and  the  boy  watched  them  and 
waited  until  Ka-ye-fah  spoke. 


40        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  That  which  the  son  of  this  wise  woman  says  is  to 
be  well  thought  of;  —  it  may  be  precious  to  us  in  days 
not  yet  born  of  the  sun.  You  who  listen  know  that 
we  are  living  now  in  a  day  that  was  told  of  by  Ki-pah 
in  the  years  of  our  Lost  Others,  and  Ki-pah  spoke  as 
the  god  Po-se-yemo  spoke :  —  he  was  given  great 
magic  to  see  the  years  ahead  of  the  years  he  lived.'5 

"  It  is  true,"  assented  the  governor  — "  It  was 
when  the  people  yet  lived  in  the  caves,  and  the  water 
went  into  the  sands  in  that  highland  —  that  is  when 
he  came  to  our  Lost  Others  —  Ki-pah  —  the  great 
wisdom.  He  came  from  the  south,  and  taught  them 
to  come  down  from  the  caves  and  build  houses  by  the 
great  river,  and  to  turn  the  water  to  the  fields  here. 
All  things  worked  with  him  —  and  Kah-po  —  and 
Oj-ke  and  Po-ho-ge  were  built  and  stand  to  this  day 
where  he  said  they  must  be  built.  He  knew  all 
speech,  and  could  tell  magic  things  from  a  bowl  of 
clear  water.  It  was  in  the  water  he  saw  men  who 
were  white,  and  who  would  cover  the  land  if  we  were 
not  strong.  These  men  are  the  men  he  saw  in  the 
water.  I  think  it  is  so,  and  that  this  is  the  time  to  be 
strong." 


I 


CHAPTER  y 
TAHN-T^  among  strangers 

THE  one  thing  to  which  the  boy  gave  awed 
attention  was  that  when  the  time  came  for 
the  villages  to  fight  —  a  leader  would  be 
born  to  them  —  if  the  people  of  the  valley  were  true 
to  their  gods  they  would  be  strong  always,  Kipah  the 
prophet  told  them  to  remember  always  the  war  star 
in  the  sky  —  the  star  Po-se-yemo  had  told  them  of, 
when  it  moved,  the  time  to  make  war  would  be  here. 

And  when  the  time  came  to  fight,  a  leader  would 
come  to  them,  as  he,  Ki-pah  had  come !  Because  of 
this  thought  was  the  heart  of  the  boy  thrilled  that  he 
had  been  called  a  reed  by  the  river  —  a  reed  through 
which  music  of  the  desert  gods  might  speak. 

He  was  filled  with  wild  fancies  of  mystic  things 
born  of  these  prophecies.  And  the  old  men  said  that 
perhaps  this  was  the  time  of  which  Po-se-yemo,  the 
god,  and  Ki-pah,  the  prophet,  had  told ! 

The  vote  of  a  Te-hua  council  has  to  be  the  agree- 
ment of  every  man,  and  the  star  of  the  morning 
brought  dawn  to  the  valley  before  the  last  reluctant 
decided  it  was  well  to  send  a  messenger  to  learn  of  the 
strange  gods. 

But  as  the  sun  rose  Tahn-te  bathed  in  the  running 
water  of  the  river,  and  his  prayer  was  of  joy:  —  for 
he  was  to  go ! 

In  joy,  and  with  the  light  of  exaltation  in  his  face 
he  said  farewell  to  boy  thoughts,  and  walked  lightly 
over  the  highlands  and  the  valleys  to  Ua-lano,  and 

41 


42        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


thence  followed  the  adventurers  to  Ci-cu-ye  and  bent 
the  knee  to  Father  Luis,  and  kissed  the  cross,  and  let 
water  be  sprinkled  over  him,  and  did  all  the  things 
shown  him  with  so  glad  a  heart  that  the  devoted  priest 
gave  praise  for  such  a  convert  from  the  pagan  people. 
So  pleased  was  he  with  the  eagerness  of  Tahn-te  to 
learn,  that  he  made  him  his  own  assistant  at  the  cer- 
emonies of  the  Holy  Faith. 

And  after  each  one,  the  boy  washed  his  hands  in 
running  water,  and  scattered  prayer  meal  to  the  gods 
of  the  elements,  and  to  the  Sun  Father  God,  and  knew 
that  in  Provi-whah  his  mother  was  praying  also  that 
he  be  not  harmed  by  the  god  of  the  gold  hunters  — 
and  that  he  come  back  strong  with  the  white  man's 
magic. 

The  boy  Ka-yemo  of  the  Tain-tsain  clan  was  also 
sent  —  but  neither  boy  was  told  of  the  quest  of  the 
other.  The  old  men  decided  it  was  better  so.  With- 
out pay  they  went  with  the  Spanish  adventurers,  one 
serving  the  men  of  arms  and  learning  the  ways  of  the 
strange  animals,  and  the  other  serving  the  priests  and 
learning  the  symbols  of  the  strangers'  creed  of  the 
one  goddess,  and  two  gods,  and  many  Go-he-yahs, 
called  saints  by  the  men  of  the  iron  clothes. 

They  both  saw  many  strange  things  in  Ci-cu-ye,  and 
they  saw  the  strange  Indian  slave,  whom  the  old  men 
of  Ci-cu-ye  instructed  to  lead  the  men  of  iron 
from  their  land  with  the  romance  of  Qui-ve-ra. 
And  the  slave  did  it,  and  told  the  strangers  of  the 
mythic  land  of  gold  and  gems,  and  lost  his  life  in  the 
end  by  doing  so,  but  the  life  of  the  romance  was  more 
enduring  than  any  other  thing,  and  the  spirit  of  that 
treasure  search  still  broods  over  the  deserts  and  the 
mountains  of  that  land. 

But  the  stay  of  Ka-yemo  was  not  even  the  length  of 


TAHN-Tfe  AMONG  STRANGERS  43 


the  first  winter  with  the  strangers.  For  in  Tigeux 
where  the  great  captain  (Coronado)  wintered,  and 
made  his  comfort  by  turning  the  natives  out  of  their 
houses,  there  was  a  season  of  grievous  strife  ere  the 
Spring  came,  and  the  two  boys  of  Te-hua  saw  things 
unspeakable  as  two  hundred  Indians  of  the  valley, 
captured  under  truce,  were  burned  at  the  stake  by  the 
soldiers  of  the  cross. 

One  of  the  reasons  for  the  crusade  to  the  north  as 
written  in  the  chronicles  of  Christian  Mexico  was  to 
save  the  souls  of  the  heathen  for  the  one  god, —  and 
his  advocates  were  sending  the  said  souls  for  judge- 
ment as  quickly  as  might  be  I 

Tahn-te  stood,  pale  and  tense  in  the  house  where 
the  chapel  of  Fray  Juan  Padilla  had  been  established, 
—  once  it  had  been  the  house  of  the  governor  of  the 
village  who  might  even  now  be  among  the  victims  of 
the  broken  trust. 

On  the  altar  was  a  crucifix  in  gold  on  ebony,  and  the 
eyes  of  the  boy  were  not  kindly  as  he  regarded  it. 

"  They  lie  when  they  say  you  are  a  god  of  peace 
like  our  god  Po-se-yemo,"  he  said.  "  They  lie  when 
they  say  you  are  the  god  of  the  red  man  —  you  are 
the  white  god  of  the  white  people  —  and  you  will  let 
the  red  men  hold  not  anything  that  your  white  chil- 
dren want!  " 

He  heard  himsef  speak  the  words  aloud  there  alone 
where  the  new  alter  was  —  he  seemed  to  hear  himself 
saying  it  over  and  over  as  if  by  the  sound  of  his  own 
voice  he  could  kill  the  sound  of  the  tortured  red  men 
in  the  court. 

A  blanketed  figure  ran  in  at  the  open  door,  halted 
at  the  sound  of  Tahn-te's  voice  —  and  then  flung 
himself  forward.  It  was  Ka-yemo  and  his  teeth  were 
chattering  at  the  thought  of  the  inferno  without. 


44        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  It  may  be  they  will  not  look  for  us  here,"  he  said 
as  he  saw  who  it  was  in  the  chapel  — "  Perhaps  —  if 
one  keeps  near  —  to  their  strong  god :  and  you  are 
close  also  —  and  — " 

"  I  stay  close  because  it  is  my  work," —  said 
Tahn-te.  "  Some  of  the  men  tied  to  the  stakes  out 
there  bent  before  their  strong  god  and  said  prayers 
there. —  Did  it  save  them?" 

"  They  will  kill  us  —  we  will  never  see  our  people 
—  they  will  kill  us !  "  muttered  Ka-yemo  shaken  with 
fear. 

"  I  do  not  think  they  want  to  kill  us:  —  they  still 
need  us  for  many  things.  We  are  only  boys,  we  have 
not  wives  that  we  refuse  to  give  to  the  white  men  — 
if  we  had  it  might  be  different,  who  knows?  " 

14  Is  that  the  cause?" 

"  The  white  men  will  give  a  different  one  —  but 
that  is  the  cause !  The  men  of  this  valley  think  it  is 
enough  if  they  give  their  houses,  and  their  corn,  and 
their  woven  blankets  to  their  fine  white  brothers :  — 
the  red  men  are  foolish  men, —  so  they  burn  at  the 
stake  out  there !  " 

Ka-yemo  stared  at  him,  and  crouched  in  his  blanket. 

"  You  say  strange  things,"  he  muttered.  "  I  think 
when  they  get  crazy  with  the  spirit  to  kill  that  they 
will  kill  us  all.    I  do  not  stay  to  be  killed  —  I  go !  " 

Tahn-te  staring  at  the  emblems  of  holiness  on  the 
altar  scarcely  heard  him. 

"  I  go,  Tahn-te, —  I  go  if  I  have  to  swim  the  river 
with  the  ice. —  Do  you  stay  here  to  be  killed?  " 

"  I  am  here  to  learn  many  things  —  I  learn  but 
little  yet,  I  cannot  go." 

"But  —  if  you  die?" 

"  I  think  it  is  not  yet  that  I  die,"  said  Tahn-te  — 
"  There  is  much  to  do." 


TAHN-Tf  AMONG  STRANGERS  45 


"And  —  if  I  live  to  see  —  our  people?  " 

"  Tell  my  mother  I  am  strong  —  and  I  feel  her 
prayers  when  the  sun  comes  up.  Tell  the  governor 
I  stay  to  learn  what  the  white  god  does  for  the  red 
men ;  when  I  have  things  to  tell  the  people  I  will  come 
back  to  Povi-whah." 

But  the  ice  of  that  winter  melted,  and  the  summer 
bore  its  fruit,  and  the  second  spring  time  had  come  to 
the  land  before  Tahn-te  crossed  the  mesas  and  stood 
at  his  mother's  door. 

"  Thanks  —  that  you  have  come,"  she  said,  and 
wept,  and  he  held  her  hand  and  did  not  know  the 
things  to  say,  only :  — "  Thanks  that  our  gods  have 
brought  me  back." 

"  And  the  magic  of  the  white  man?  " 

"  It  is  here,"  and  he  opened  a  bag  made  of  buffalo 
skin,  and  in  it  were  books  and  papers  covered  with 
written  words.  She  looked  on  them  with  awe.  Her 
son  was  only  a  boy  but  he  had  won  that  which  was 
precious,  and  earned  honors  from  the  men  of  her  tribe 
and  her  clan. 

"  Not  to  me  must  you  tell  it  first,"  she  said  — "  The 
Ruler  will  hear  you,  and  the  governor, —  they  will 
decide  if  it  is  to  be  known,  or  if  it  is  to  be  secret." 

The  old  men  sprinkled  prayer  meal  —  and  smoked 
medicine  smoke  over  the  books  to  lift  any  lingering 
curses  from  the  white  men's  god,  and  then  the  boy 
opened  the  pages  and  made  clear  how  the  marks  stood 
for  words,  and  the  words  put  all  together  stood  for 
the  talk  of  the  white  god.  It  was  a  thing  of  wonder 
to  the  council. 

"  And  it  is  a  strong  god?  "  asked  the  Ruler. 

"  It  is  strong  for  war:  —  not  for  peace,"  said  the 
boy. 

"  Ka-yemo  brought  back  the  words  of  the  medicine- 


46        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


man  of  the  grey  blanket  who  talked  of  their  god. 
All  his  talk  was  of  peace  and  of  love  in  the  heart. 
Is  that  true?  " 

"  It  is  true.  He  was  a  good  man.  It  may  be  that 
some  men  are  born  so  good  that  even  the  gods  of  the 
men  of  iron  cannot  make  them  evil.  And  Padre 
Luis  was  born  into  the  world  like  that." 

"  We  listen  to  you  to  hear  of  the  moons  and  the 
suns  since  you  went  away." 

The  boy  told  of  the  fruitless  search  to  the  east  for 
the  wonderful  land  of  the  slave's  romance,  where  the 
natives  used  golden  bowls  instead  of  earthen  vessels 
for  food,  where  each  soldier  was  so  sure  of  gaining 
riches  that  the  weight  of  provisions  carried  was  small 
lest  the  animals  be  not  strong  enough  to  carry  all  the 
gold  and  the  food  also. 

The  old  men  laughed  much  at  this  search  for  the 
symbol  of  the  Sun  Father  along  the  waters  of  the 
Mischipi,  and  commended  the  wise  men  of  Ci-cu-ye 
who  had  the  foresight  to  plan  the  romance,  and  to 
send  the  slave  to  lead  the  adventurers  to  the  land  of 
false  dreams. 

It  was  bad,  however,  that  the  strangers  had  not  lost 
themselves  in  the  prairies,  or  were  not  killed  by  the 
fierce  tribes  of  the  north :  —  it  was  bad  that  they 
came  back  to  the  villages  of  the  Po-son-ge  river. 

Then  the  boy  told  of  the  final  despair  of  the  con- 
querors, and  their  disheartened  retreat  to  the  land  of 
the  south.  For  two  years  they  had  terrorized  the 
people  of  the  land  —  worse  enemies  than  the  Navahu 
or  the  Comanche  or  the  Apache  fighter,  then  when 
they  had  made  ruins  where  towns  and  gardens  had 
been,  they  said  it  was  all  of  no  use  since  the  yellow 
metal  was  not  found  in  the  ground. 

*■  Did  the  wise  men  of  iron  not  know  that  where 


TAHN-TE  AMONG  STRANGERS  47 


the  yellow  metal  is  in  the  earth,  that  there  is  ever  the 
symbol  of  the  Sun  Father,  and  that  it  must  be  a  thing 
sacred  and  a  hidden  place  for  prayer?  " 

"  They  did  not  know  that:  —  no  man  told  them." 

Ka-ye-fah,  the  ancient  Ruler  blew  smoke  from  his 
pipe  to  the  four  ways,  and  spoke. 

"  Yet  among  the  men  they  burned  to  ashes  in  the 
village  square  were  many  who  could  have  told  them 
that,  and  three  who  could  have  told  them  where  such 
prayer  places  were  hidden !  It  is  well,  my  children, 
that  they  did  die,  and  not  tell  that  which  the  Sun 
Father  has  hidden  for  his  own  people :  —  it  is 
well!" 

"  It  is  well !  "  echoed  the  others  of  the  council. 

"  We  all  die  when  the  day  or  the  night  comes," — 
continued  the  old  man.  "  It  is  well  that  we  die  in 
bravery  for  the  sake  of  the  others  who  have  to  live 
and  walk  the  earth  path.  It  is  well  that  we  have 
strong  hearts  to  think  about.  One  day  I  shall  go  in 
the  ground  with  my  fathers;  I  am  old,  and  the  trail 
has  been  long,  and  in  my  old  days  the  sunlight  has 
been  covered  for  me." 

Tahn-te  did  not  know  what  he  meant,  but  the  other 
men  bent  their  heads  in  sympathy. 

"  It  is  twice  four  moons  since  my  child  Ka-ye-povi 
was  carried  away  in  the  darkness  when  we  fought  the 
Navahu  in  the  hunting  grounds  to  the  west," — he 
continued.  "  No  one  has  found  her  —  no  trader 
has  brought  her  back.  When  a  woman,  she  will  not 
know  her  own  people,  or  our  own  speech.  I  think 
of  that,  and  grow  weak.  Our  people  have  never 
been  slaves  —  yet  she  will  be  a  slave  for  our  enemy 
the  Navahu!  So  it  is  that  I  grow  old  more  quick, 
and  the  time  may  come  soon  to  sleep  on  our  Mother 
—  the  Earth." 


48       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  We  wish  that  it  comes  not  soon,"  said  the  gover- 
nor, and  the  others  signified  their  assent. 

"  Thanks,  thanks  that  you  wish  it.  I  do  not  speak 
of  it  to  give  sad  hearts.  I  speak  because  of  the  days 
when  I  may  be  gone,  and  another  than  me  will  hold 
the  knowledge  of  a  sacred  place  where  the  Sun  Father 
hides  his  symbol.  It  is  good  that  I  hear  of  the  men 
who  let  themselves  go  into  ashes,  and  when  if  they 
had  said  once:  —  "I  know  where  it  is  —  the  metal 
of  the  Sun!  "  all  might  have  gone  free  and  lived  long 
days.  My  children :  —  it  may  be  that  some  day  one 
of  you  will  hold  a  secret  of  the  sacred  place  where 
strong  magic  lives!  If  it  be  so,  let  that  man  among 
you  think  in  his  heart  of  the  twenty  times  ten  men 
who  let  themselves  be  burned  into  ashes  by  the  white 
men  of  iron !  Guard  you  the  sacred  places  —  and 
let  your  ashes  go  into  the  sands,  or  be  blown  by  the 
winds  to  the  four  ways.  But  from  the  sacred  things 
of  the  gods,  lift  not  the  cover  for  the  enemy !  " 

The  old  man  trembled  with  the  intensity  of  the 
thought  and  the  dread  of  what  the  unborn  years 
might  bring. 

After  a  moment  of  silence  the  governor  spoke: 

"  It  may  be  that  you  live  the  longest  of  all !  No 
one  knows  who  will  guard  the  things  not  to  be  told. 
But  no  Te-hua  can  uncover  that  which  belongs  to  the 
Sun  Father,  and  the  Earth  Mother." 

"  It  is  true :  —  thanks  that  it  is  true !  " —  said  the 
other  men,  and  Tahn-te  knew  he  was  listening  to 
things  not  told  to  boys. 

"  Thanks  that  you  speak  so,"  said  the  Ruler. 
"  Now  we  have  all  spoken  of  this  matter.  It  is 
done.  But  the  magic  of  the  white  hunters  of  gold, 
we  have  not  yet  heard  spoken.    How  is  it,  boy,  that 


TAHN-Tfe  AMONG  STRANGERS  49 


you  have  brought  all  these  signs  of  it :  —  what  made 
blind  their  eyes?  " 

"  Not  anything,"  said  Tahn-te.  "  It  was  a  long 
time  I  was  with  them.  Some  men  had  one  book,  or 
two,  other  men  had  papers  that  came  in  great  canoes 
from  their  land  in  Spain.  Some  had  writings  from 
their  fathers  or  their  friends.  These  I  heard  read 
and  talked  of  around  the  camp  fire.  When  they 
went  away  some  things  were  thrown  aside  or  given 
to  the  padres  who  were  to  stay  and  talk  of  their  gods. 
All  I  found  I  hid  in  the  earth.  The  people  of  Ci- 
bo-la  killed  Padre  Juan,  and  I  traded  a  broken  sword 
for  his  books  and  his  papers.  The  sword  I  also  had 
buried.  They  were  afraid  of  the  books,  I  had 
learned  to  read  them,  and  I  was  not  afraid." 

"  And  you  came  from  Ci-bo-la  alone?  "  asked  the 
governor, — "  it  is  a  long  trail  to  carry  a  load." 

"  All  was  not  carried  from  there.  I  came  back  to 
Ci-cu-ye  to  learn  more  from  Padre  Luis  who  meant 
to  live  there.  He  did  not  live  so  long,  but  while  he 
lived  he  taught  me." 

"  The  men  of  Ci-cu-ye  killed  him  too?" 

"  They  made  him  die  when  they  said  I  must  not 
take  beans  or  meal  to  him  where  he  lived  in  a  cave, 
and  where  he  made  prayers  for  their  shadow  spirits." 

"You  wanted  that  he  should  have  food?"  asked 
the  Ruler. 

"  I  wanted  that  he  should  live  to  teach  me  all  the 
books  before  the  end  came,"  said  the  boy  simply. 
"It  is  not  all  to  be  learned  in  two  winters  and  one 
summer." 

"  That  is  true,"  said  Ka-ya-fah  the  Ruler.  "  All 
of  a  man's  life  is  needed  to  learn  certain  things  of 
magic.    It  is  time  now  that  you  come  back  and  begin 


50       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  work  of  the  Orders.  .You  have  earned  the  high- 
est right  a  boy  has  yet  earned,  and  no  doors  will  be 
closed  for  you  on  the  sacred  things  given  to  people." 

"  We  think  that  is  so,"  said  the  governor —  "  no 
doors  will  be  closed  for  the  son  of  Saa-hanh-que-ah, 
the  Woman  of  the  Twilight." 

This  was  the  hour  he  had  dreamed  of  through  the 
months  which  had  seemed  horrible  as  the  white  man's 
hell.  One  needs  only  to  read  the  several  accounts 
of  Coronado's  quest  for  the  golden  land  of  the  Gran 
Quivera  in  1540-42  to  picture  what  the  life  of  a 
little  native  page  must  have  been  with  the  dissatisfied 
adventurers,  by  whom  all  "  Indians  "  were  considered 
as  slaves  should  their  service  be  required. 

Men  had  died  beside  him  on  the  trail  —  and  there 
had  been  times  when  he  felt  he  too  would  die  but  for 
the  thought  of  this  hour  when  he  could  come  back, 
and  the  council  could  say — "  It  is  well!  " 

"  I  thank  you,  and  my  mother  will  thank  you," 
he  said  with  his  eyes  on  the  stones  of  the  kiva  lest 
the  men  see  that  his  eyes  were  wet.  "  My  mother 
said  prayers  with  me  always,  and  that  helped  me  to 
come  back." 

"  The  prayers  of  the  Shadow  Woman  are  high 
medicine,"  assented  one  of  the  men.  "  She  brought 
back  my  son  to  live  when  the  breath  was  gone  away." 

"  As  a  little  child  she  had  a  wisdom  not  to  be 
taught,"  affirmed  the  Ruler — "  and  now  it  is  her  son 
who  brings  us  the  magic  of  the  iron  men.  Tell  us 
how  you  left  the  people  of  Ci-cu-ye." 

"  They  were  having  glad  dances  that  the  Christians 
were  gone,  and  that  the  padres  were  dead  as  other 
men  die.  So  long  as  they  let  me  I  carried  food  and 
water  to  Padre  Luis.  Then  they  guarded  me  in  the 
kiva,  and  laughed  at  me,  and  when  they  let  me  go  I 


TAHN-Tf:  AMONG  STRANGERS  51 


knew  it  was  because  he  was  no  longer  alive.  No: 
—  they  did  not  harm  me.  They  were  too  pleased 
that  I  could  tell  them  of  where  their  slave  whom 
they  called  the  "Turk" — led  the  gold  hunters 
searching  for  the  Quivera  of  yellow  metal  and  blue 
stones.  They  had  much  delight  to  hear  of  the  woeful 
time  of  the  white  men.  I  could  stay  all  my  days  at 
Ci-cu-ye  and  be  precious  to  them,  if  I  would  talk  of 
the  trouble  trail  to  Quivera,  but  when  I  had  seen  that 
the  Padre  was  indeed  gone  to  the  Lost  Others,  my 
work  was  no  more  at  Ci-cu-ye.  I  took  his  books  also 
for  my  own  —  and  all  these  things  I  have  brought 
back  at  Povi-whah  to  make  good  my  promise  when 
I  went  away.  Some  things  in  the  books,  I  know, 
and  that  I  can  tell  you.  Of  the  rest  I  will  work 
until  I  do  know,  and  then  I  can  tell  you  that." 

"  That  is  good,"  said  Ka-ye-fah  the  Ruler.  "  You 
shall  be  as  my  son  and  in  the  long  nights  of  the  winter 
moons  we  will  listen.  The  time  told  of  in  the 
prophecies  of  Ki-pah  is  coming  to  us.  He  said  also 
that  in  each  danger  time  would  be  born  one  to  mark 
the  way  for  the  people  to  follow  —  in  each  danger 
time  so  long  as  the  Te-hua  people  were  true  to  the 
gods!" 

Tahn-te  breathed  on  the  hand  of  the  old  men,  and 
went  up  from  the  kiva  into  the  cool  night  of  the  early 
summer. 

It  was  too  wonderful  a  night  for  aught  but  to  reach 
up  in  thought  to  the  height  of  the  warm  stars.  They 
came  so  close  he  could  feel  their  radiance  in  his  heart. 

Twice  had  his  name  in  council  been  linked  to  the 
prophecies  of  the  wise  and  mysterious  prophet  of  the 
ancient  days!  Always  he  had  known  that  the 
Woman  of  the  Twilight  and  he  were  not  to  live  the 
life  of  the  others.    He  had  not  known  why  they 


m        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


were  set  apart  for  unusual  experiences,  but  to-night 
he  dared  to  think.  With  the  words  of  the  wise  men 
still  in  his  ears  —  the  rulers  who  could  make  and  un- 
make —  he  knew  that  no  other  boy  had  ever  heard 
the  praise  and  promise  he  had  heard.  He  knew  they 
thought  they  were  giving  words  to  one  who  would  be 
a  leader  in  the  years  to  come  —  and  this  first  night 
under  the  peace  of  the  stars,  he  was  filled  with  a  tri- 
umph and  an  exaltation  for  which  there  were  no 
words. 

He  would  be  a  leader  —  not  of  war  —  not  of 
government  for  the  daily  duties  of  village  life,  but 
of  the  Things  of  the  Spirit  which  seemed  calling 
within  him  to  highest  endeavor.  He  knew  as  yet 
nothing  of  Te-hua  ceremonies  —  he  had  all  to  learn, 
yet  he  felt  inspired  to  invent  some  expression  for  the 
joy  which  was  his. 

The  new  moon  seemed  to  rest  on  the  very  edge  of 
the  mesa  above  him:  —  the  uplifted  horn  looked  like 
a  white  flame  rising  from  purple  shadows. 

!A  white  flame !  —  a  white  flame ! 

To  the  Indian  mind  all  signs  are  symbolic, —  and 
the  flame  was  exactly  above  the  point  where  the  light 
was  set  ceremonially  and  regularly  to  light  the  Indian 
god  back  to  his  own  people ! 

A  point  of  white  flame  above  that  shrine  of 
centuries ! 

No  eyes  but  his  saw  it  at  exactly  that  angle  —  of 
course  it  was  not  meant  for  other  eyes.  It  was  meant 
that  it  should  be  seen  by  him  alone  on  his  first  night 
with  the  people  he  meant  to  work  for!  With  the 
memory  of  the  prophecies  in  his  ears  had  he  seen  it. 
It  could  mean  only  that  the  god  himself  set  it  there 
as  a  proof  that  the  devotion  of  Tahn-te  was  acceptable 
—  and  that  he  had  been  born  of  his  mother  that  the 


TAHN-TE  AMONG  STRANGERS  53 


prophecies  might  be  fulfilled  at  the  right  time  —  and 
that  the  light  of  the  moon  on  his  face  had  meant  — 1 — 
His  thought  came  so  quickly  that  all  the  air  of  the 
night  appeared  alive  with  the  unseen  —  and  the  un- 
seen murmured  in  his  ears,  and  his  memories  —  and 
in  his  heart ! 

Suddenly  he  stretched  his  open  hands  high  to  the 
stars,  and  then  ran  across  the  level  to  the  foot  of  the 
bluff.  It  was  high  and  very  steep,  but  wings  seemed 
his  —  his  heart  was  on  the  summit,  and  his  body 
must  follow  —  must  get  there  before  the  white  flame 
sank  into  the  west  — must  send  his  greeting  to  an- 
swer the  greeting  of  the  god! 

In  the  pouch  at  his  girdle  was  the  fire  flint,  and 
a  wisp  of  the  silky  wild  flax  of  tinder.  Two  sticks 
of  dead  scrub  pinon  was  there;  he  broke  them  in  equal 
lengths  and  laid  them  in  the  cross  which  is  the  symbol 
of  the  four  ways,  and  of  the  four  winds  from  which 
the  sacred  breath  is  drawn  for  all  that  lives  —  the 
symbol  also  of  union  by  which  all  human  life  is 
perpetuated.  All  fires  of  sacrifices, —  or  of  magic 
power,  must  commemorate  these  things  which  are 
sacred  things,  and  Tahn-te  placed  them  and  breathed 
upon  them,  and  touched  them  with  the  spark  from 
the  white  flint,  and  then  arose  in  joy  and  faced  the 
moon  yet  visible,  knowing  that  the  god  had  seen  his 
answering  flame  on  the  shrine  —  and  that  it  meant 
a  dedication  to  the  Things  of  the  Spirit. 

And  as  he  stood  there  on  the  mesa's  edge,  exalted 
at  the  wonder  of  the  night,  he  did  not  speak,  yet  he 
heard  the  echo  of  words  in  his  own  voice :  — "  No 
one  but  Tahn-te  shall  gather  the  woods  for  the  -fire  to 
light  Po-se-yemo  back;  —  and  when  he  sees  the  blaze, 
and  comes  back,  you  will  tell  him  it  was  his  son  who 
kept  the  fire!  " 


54        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


Like  a  flash  came  the  memory  of  that  other  time 
at  the  edge  of  that  other  mesa  in  Hopi-land!  He 
had  said  those  words  to  his  mother  —  and  had  for- 
gotten them.  He  could  never  forget  them  again, 
for  the  god  had  sent  them  back  to  him  to  remember. 
And  Tahn-te  trembled  at  the  wondrous  signs  given 
him  this  night,  and  sprinkled  meal  to  the  four  ways, 
and  held  prayer  thoughts  of  exaltation  in  his  heart. 

And  this  was  the  last  day  of  the  boy  years  of 
Tahn-te. 

He  began  then  the  years  of  the  work  for  which  his 
Other  Self  told  him  he  had  been  born  on  earth. 


CHAPTER  VI 


TAHN-TE — -THE  RULER 

SUMMERS  of  the  Sun,  and  winters  when  the 
stars  danced  for  the  snow,  had  passed  over 
the  valley  of  Povi-whah.  New  people  had 
been  born  into  the  world,  and  old  people  had  died, 
but  the  oldest  man  in  the  council,  Ka-ye-fah —  the 
Ruler  of  Things  from  the  Beginning,  had  lived  many 
years  after  the  time  when  he  thought  the  shadow  life 
must  come  to  him.  And  to  the  Woman  of  the 
Twilight  he  had  said  that  it  was  her  son  who  kept 
him  living  —  her  son  to  whom  he  taught  the  ancient 
things  of  his  own  youth.  In  the  keen  enthusiasms  he 
had  found  such  a  son  as  he  had  longed  for.  The 
lost  daughter,  Ka-ye-povi,  he  had  never  found  —  and 
never  forgotten.  To  Tahn-te  he  had  talked  of  her 
until  she  almost  lived  in  their  lives.  The  face  of  the 
god-maid  on  the  south  mesa  had  for  Ka-ye-fah  the 
outline  of  chin  and  backward  sweep  of  hair  strangely 
akin  to  the  face  of  the  lost  child.  He  liked  to  think 
the  god-maid  belonged  more  to  his  clan  of  Towa 
Toan  —  the  High  Mesa  clan  —  than  to  another. 

"  If  she  had  not  gone  into  the  shadow  land,  her 
face  would  have  looked  that  way,"  he  said. 

"  And  we  could  gather  bright  flowers  for  her  hair," 
—  said  the  boy — "they  would  be  sweeter  than  the 
cold,  far  brightness  of  the  stars  where  the  god-maid 
waits,"  and  he  pointed  to  where  Antares  gleamed 
from  the  heart  of  the  Scorpion  above  the  dusk  profile, 
— "  I  think  of  Ka-ye-povi  as  the  dream  maid.  She 

55 


56        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


will  be  my  always  young  sweetheart  —  my  only  one." 

"  That  is  good,"  said  Ka-ye-fah — "  very  good  for 
the  work  of  the  unborn  years." 

For  the  youth  was  to  carry  on  the  tribal  prayers 
to  the  gods  when  Ka-ye-fah  no  longer  walked  on 
earth.  And  his  teaching  must  be  greater  than  all 
other  teaching,  for  the  Ruler  was  planning  for  the 
work  of  the  days  to  come. 

And  in  a  day  of  the  early  spring  the  work  was 
made  ready,  for  to  Saa-hanh-que-ah  he  said: — "A 
week  ago  So-hoah-tza  went  under  the  waters  of  the 
river  and  never  breathed  again.  To  him  was  given 
the  guard  of  the  sacred  place  of  the  Sun  Father.  I 
have  not  yet  made  any  other  the  guardian.  You  are 
the  woman  of  the  order  of  the  Po-Ahtun  —  I  give 
you  the  guard  to  keep.  Call  the  governor  —  but 
call  your  son  first.  You  shall  be  guard  as  So-hoah- 
tza  was  guard,  but  Tahn-te  shall  be  guard  as  I  have 
been !  Lean  lower,  and  let  your  ear  listen  and  your 
heart  keep  sacred  the  word.  I  go  to  our  Lost  Others 
—  but  I  leave  you  to  guard." 

The  governor  came,  and  all  were  sad,  but  no  one 
thought  that  the  life  was  over.  Ka-ye-fah  talked  and 
smiled  as  one  who  goes  to  a  feast. 

But  Tahn-te,  standing  tall  and  still  by  the  couch 
said :  — "  It  will  be  over !  This  morning  he  wakened 
and  said  he  would  go  with  the  sun  to-day.  He  has 
no  other  thought,  and  he  will  go !  " 

And  the  women  wept,  and  made  ready  the  things 
of  burial  for  the  high  priest  of  the  highest  order.  If 
Tahn-te  said  he  would  go  into  the  shadows  at  that 
time  —  the  women  knew  that  it  would  be  so.  Tahn- 
te,  as  they  knew  him,  joyous  in  the  dances  of  the 
seasons, —  was  never  in  their  minds  apart  from 
Tahn-te  the  prophet  whose  dreams  even  as  a  boy,  had 


TAHN-TE  — THE  RULER  57 


been  beyond  the  dreams  of  the  others  who  sought 
yisions. 

And  as  the  sun  touched  the  black  line  of  the  pines 
on  the  western  mountain,  the  aged  Ruler  asked  for  his 
wand  of  office,  and  the  governor  gave  it  to  him,  and 
with  his  own  hand  he  gave  it  to  Tahn-te,  that  even 
when  his  own  form  was  covered  with  the  soil,  his 
vote  would  be  on  record  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
listened  —  and  that  vote  gave  to  his  pupil  in  magic, 
the  wand  of  power — •  The  youngest  qualified 
member  of  the  Order  of  Spiritual  things  was  thus 
acclaimed  as  the  Po-Ahtun-ho,  a  Ruler  of  Things 
from  the  Beginning. 

Twenty- four  years  he  had  lived  —  but  the  time 
of  life  with  the  white  men  had  counted  more  than 
double.  In  magic  of  many  kinds  he  was  more  wise 
than  the  men  of  years,  and  the  heart  of  his  mother 
was  glad  with  the  almost  perfect  gladness  when 
Tahn-te  stood  in  the  place  of  the  Ancient  Wisdom 
and  listened  as  the  ear  of  the  god  listens  to  the  recita- 
tion of  many  tribal  prayers. 

The  Po-Ahtun-ho  also  listens  at  times  to  the  indi- 
vidual appeals  of  the  things  of  every  day  life  —  as  a 
father  listens  to  a  child  who  seeks  advice.  To  the 
more  ancient  Rulers  the  younger  people  were  often 
afraid  to  go  —  various  "  uncles  "  of  the  village  were 
appealed  to  instead.  But  the  youth  of  Tahn-te  made 
all  things  different  —  even  the  love  of  a  man  for  a 
maid,  was  not  so  small  a  thing  that  the  new  Ruler 
made  the  suppliant  feel  how  little  it  was. 

And  one  of  the  first  who  came  to  him  thus  —  who 
knelt  and  offered  a  prayer  to  him,  the  prayer  of  a 
love,  was  the  little  Apache  tigress  who  had  been  first 
of  his  own  village  to  greet  him  in  Ua-lano  —  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh,  who  had  grown  so  pretty  that  the  men  of 


58        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  other  villages  talked  of  her,  and  her  mother  had 
asked  great  gifts  for  her.  But  the  mother  had  died 
with  the  winter,  and  Yahn  refused  to  be  subject  to  the 
Tain-tsain  clan  of  her  father,  and  there  had  been  much 
trouble  until  she  threatened  to  go  back  to  her  mother's 
tribe,  and  many  thought  it  might  come  to  that  after 
all  —  for  she  was  very  strong  of  will. 

But  before  Tahn-te  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  she  crouched, 
and  sobs  shook  her,  and  her  hair  covered  her  face  as 
a  veil. 

"  If  it  is  of  the  clan,  Yahn,  it  is  to  the  governor  you 
should  speak:  — "  said  Tahn-te  — "  from  him  it  may 
come  to  me  if  he  thinks  best.  There  are  rules  we 
must  not  break.  Because  I  carried  you,  when  little, 
on  my  shoulder,  is  no  reason  to  walk  past  the  door 
of  the  governor  and  bring  his  duties  to  me." 

He  spoke  kindly,  for  his  heart  was  kind  towards 
the  little  fighter  of  boyhood's  days.  Her  alien  blood 
was  ever  prompting  her  to  reckless  daring  beyond 
the  customs  of  Te-hua  maidens.  In  a  different  way, 
he  himself  was  an  alien  and  it  helped  him  to  under- 
stand her.  But  this  day  he  saw  another  Yahn  —  one 
he  had  not  known  could  hide  under  the  reckless  ex- 
terior. 

She  tossed  back  her  hair  and  faced  him. 

"  How  should  I  speak  with  Phen-tza  the  gover- 
nor —  he  is  the  uncle  of  Ka-yemo !  It  is  he  who  has 
helped  do  this  thing  —  he  would  make  me  a  slave  or 
have  me  whipped !  How  should  I  speak  with  him  ? 
Ka-yemo  knows  that  the  governor  his  uncle,  will  — 

"Ka-yemo!  What  has  Ka-yemo  done?  What 
trouble  does  he  make?" 

"  Oh  —  no  trouble !  "  her  words  were  bitter  words, 
* — "  Only  the  governor  his  uncle,  has  talked  with  the 
family  of  Tsa-fah  and  the  marriage  is  made  with  his 


TAHN-Tfi  — THE  RULER  59 


daughter  Koh-pe  of  the  beads,  and  you  —  know, 
Tahn-te  —  you  know !  " 

Tahn-te  did  know,  he  regarded  her  in  silence. 

"  Speak!  " — she  pleaded.  "You  are  more  than 
governor  —  you  are  the  Highest!  Magic  is  yours 
to  make  and  to  unmake.  Unmake  this  thing !  With 
your  magic  send  him  back  to  me  —  to  me !  " 

"Magic  is  not  for  that it  is  for  Those 
Above!" 

Again  she  flung  herself  at  his  feet  and  wept.  The 
sobs  hurt  him,  yet  he  must  not  lift  her.  She  begged 
for  a  charm  —  for  a  spell  —  for  black  magic  to 
strike  dead  the  wearer  of  the  red  bears  and  the  blue 
beads,  for  all  wild  things  a  wild  passion  could  sug- 
gest. 

"  If  you  could  see  into  the  other  years  you  would 
be  content  to  have  it  as  it  is,"  he  said  gently — "  the 
years  ahead  may  — " 

"  I  care  nothing  for  the  years  ahead!  I  want  the 
now!  —  I  want  — " 

"  Listen!  "  he  said,  and  she  fell  silent  with  covered 
face.  "  That  which  you  feel  for  Ka-yemo  is  not  the 
love  of  marriage.  A  man  takes  a  wife  for  love  of  a 
wife  and  a  home  and  children  in  the  home.  A  man 
does  not  chain  himself  to  a  tigress  whose  bite  and 
whose  blows  he  has  felt.  A  man  would  wish  to  be 
master:  —  what  man  has  been  born  who  could  be 
master  in  your  home?" 

"  You  do  not  know.  You  have  lived  a  different 
sort  of  life !  I  could  be  more  than  another  wife  — 
than  any  other  wife !  I  shall  kill  some  one !  —  and 
she  rose  to  her  feet  — "  unless  the  magic  comes  I  kill 
some  one!  " 

"And  then?" 

"  Then  Phen-tza  the  governor  will  have  me 


60        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


strangled,  and  they  will  take  me  to  my  grave  with 
ropes  of  raw  hide  and  there  will  not  any  where  be 
a  sad  heart  for  Yahn  Tsyn-deh." 

"  You  see  how  it  is  —  he  is  precious  to  you  —  as  he 
always  has  been.  But  your  love  is  too  great  a  love  for 
happy  days.  Always  it  will  bring  you  the  ache  in 
the  heart.  No  thing  of  earth  should  be  given  the 
love  like  that :  —  it  is  a  fire  to  burn  a  whole  forest 
in  the  days  of  its  summer,  and  in  the  winter  snows 
there  will  be  only  ashes." 

"  Good!  —  then  I,  Yahn,  will  rather  burn  to  the 
ashes  in  such  summer  days,  and  be  dead  under  the 
snows  in  the  winter  of  the  year!  " 

"  And  after  that?" 

"After  that  will  not  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  be  Ruler 
always  ?  Will  he  not  remember  his  friends  who  are 
precious  in  the  Beyond  as  he  remembers  this  one  to- 
day?" she  asked  mockingly.  "  Ka-ye-fah  told  the 
council  that  you  have  lived  a  life  no  other  man  lives, 
and  that  no  woman  is  precious  to  you :  —  when  you 
find  the  woman  who  is  yet  to  come,  may  a  viper  poison 
her  blood  —  may  a  cat  of  the  hills  tear  her  flesh ! 
May  you  love  until  madness  comes  —  and  may  the 
woman  find  only  death  in  your  arms  —  and  find  it 
quickly !  " 

When  the  Woman  of  the  Twilight  came  in  from 
the  field  with  yellow  corn  pollen  for  the  sacred  cere- 
monies, the  lattice  of  reeds  at  the  outer  door  was  yet 
shaking  as  from  touch  of  a  ruthless  hand,  or  a  strong 
wind. 

M  Who  was  it  that  cried  here?  she  asked.  "  Who 
has  left  you  sad?  " 

"  Perhaps  a  prophetess,  my  mother,"  answered 
Tahn-te,  and  sat  thoughtful  where  Yahn  had  left 


TAHN-TE  —  THE  RULER  61 


him.  And  after  a  long  time  he  arose  and  sought 
the  governor. 

But  it  was  fated  that  the  governor  and  the  new 
Ruler  were  not  to  talk  of  the  love  of  a  maid  or  the 
marriage  of  a  man  that  day. 

A  runner  had  been  sent  to  Povi-whah  from  Kat-yi- 
ti.  He  gave  his  message,  and  stayed  to  eat  while 
other  runners  took  the  trail,  and  before  the  sun  had 
moved  the  width  of  a  hand  across  the  sky,  the  villages 
of  Kah-po  and  Tsa-mah  and  Oj-ke  were  starting  other 
runners  to  Ui-  la-ua  and  far  Te-gat-ha  and  at  Kah-po 
the  head  men  gathered  to  talk  in  great  council  over 
the  word  brought  from  the  south. 

For  the  word  was  that  the  men  of  the  iron  and 
the  beards  and  the  white  skins  were  again  coming  to 
the  land  of  the  People  of  the  Sun.  They  came  in 
peace,  and  searched  for  the  lost  padres.  A  man  of 
the  gown  was  with  them  for  prayers,  and  a  Te-hua 
man  who  had  been  caught  by  the  Navahu  long  winters 
ago  and  traded  to  the  land  of  green  birds.  The 
Te-hua  man  said  the  white  people  were  good  people, 
and  he  was  guiding  them  to  the  villages  by  the  big 
river,  P6-s6n-ge. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  SILKEN  SCARF 

OF  the  many  godly  enterprises  set  afoot  for 
exploration  and  conquest  in  New  Spain  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  not  all  have  chronicles 
important  enough  for  the  historian  to  make  much  of. 
But  there  were  goings  and  comings  of  which  no 
written  record  reached  the  archives.  Things  for- 
bidden did  happen  even  under  the  iron  heel  of  Cas- 
tilian  rule,  and  one  of  the  hidden  enterprises  grew  to 
be  a  part  of  the  life  of  the  Po-son-ge  valley  for  a 
time. 

Not  that  it  was  unchronicled,  but  there  was  a  good 
reason  why  the  records  were  not  published  for  the 
Spanish  court. 

It  was  a  pretty  romantic  reason  also  —  and  the 
usual  one,  if  we  may  trust  the  world's  judgment  of 
the  foundation  of  all  trouble.  But  a  maid  tossing 
a  blossom  from  a  Mexic  balcony  could  not  know  that 
the  stranger  from  Seville  to  whom  it  was  thrown  was 
the  son  of  an  Eminence,  instead  of  the  simple  gentle- 
men named  Don  Ruy  Sandoval  in  a  royal  letter  to 
the  Viceroy.  With  him  travelled  his  tutor  whose 
tutelage  was  past,  and  the  position  a  difficult  one  for 
even  the  Viceroy  to  comprehend. 

Since  the  youth  rebelled  at  the  habit  of  a  monk  — 
he  had  been  given  a  space  for  adventure  under  godly 
surveillance.  The  godly  surveillance  limped  a  trifle 
at  times.  And  because  of  this  did  Don  Ruy  walk 
again  in  the  moonlight  under  the  balcony  and  this 

62 


THE  SILKEN  SCARF  63 


time  more  than  a  blossom  came  to  him  —  about  the 
stem  of  a  scarlet  lily  was  a  flutter  of  white!  The 
warm  light  of  the  Mexic  moon  helped  him  to  decipher 
it  —  a  page  from  Ariosto  —  the  romance  of  Dona 
Bradamante  —  and  the  mark  of  a  pen  under  words 
uttered  by  the  warrior-maid  herself  —  words  to  warm 
a  cooler  youth  than  this  one  from  over  seas :  — "  Why 
seek  I  one  who  flies  from  me?  —  Why  implore  one 
who  deigns  not  to  send  me  reply?" 

Whereupon  there  was  no  further  delay  as  to  reply 
—  there  was  found  an  open  gate  to  a  garden  where 
only  stars  gave  light,  where  little  hands  were  held  for 
a  moment  in  his  —  soft  whispers  had  answered  his 
own  —  and  he  was  held  in  thrall  by  a  lace  wrapped 
senorita  whose  face  he  had  not  even  looked  on  in  the 
light.  All  of  Castile  could  give  one  no  better  start 
in  a  week  than  he  had  found  for  himself  in  three  days 
in  the  new  world  of  promise 

For  there  were  promises  —  and  they  were  sweet. 
They  had  to  do  with  a  tryst  two  nights  away  —  then 
the  lady,  whom  he  called  "  Dona  Bradamante  "  be- 
cause of  the  page  torn  from  that  romance,  would  en- 
lighten him  as  to  her  pressing  need  of  the  aid  of  a 
gentleman,  and  courage  would  be  hers  to  tell  him 
why  a  marked  line  and  a  scarlet  lily  had  been  let  fall 
in  his  path  —  and  why  she  had  trusted  his  face  at 
first  sight  —  though  he  had  not  yet  seen  her  own  — 
and  why  — 

It  was  the  usual  thing  —  the  page  of  a  poem  and 
a  silken  scarf  as  a  guerdon  of  her  trust. 

He  found  the  place  of  the  tryst  with  ease  for  a 
stranger  in  the  Mexic  streets,  but  a  glimmer  of  white 
robe  was  all  he  saw  of  his  unknown  "  Dona  Brad- 
amante." Others  were  at  the  tryst,  and  their  staves 
and  arms  lacked  no  strength.    He  heard  a  woman 


64        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


scream,  then  he  heard  her  try  again  to  scream  and 
fail  because  of  a  hand  on  her  throat,  and  beyond  that 
he  knew  little  for  a  night  or  two,  and  there  was  not 
much  of  day  between. 

Monkly  robes  were  the  next  thing  in  his  range  of 
vision  —  one  face  in  particular,  sallow  and  still  with 
eyes  glancing  sideways,  seeing  all  things;  —  divining 
much!  soft  steps,  and  bandages,  and  out  of  silence 
the  excited  shrillness  of  Don  Diego  Maria  Francisco 
Brancadori  the  tutor:  —  the  shepherd  who  had  lost 
track  of  his  one  rather  ruffled  lamb. 

Pious  ejaculation  —  thanks  to  all  the  saints  he 
could  think  of  —  horror  that  the  son  of  an  Eminence 
should  be  thus  abused  —  prophecies  of  the  wrath  to 
come  when  the  duchess,  his  mother  —  At  this  Don 
Ruy  groped  for  a  sword,  and  found  a  boot,  and  flung 
it,  with  an  unsanctified  word  or  two,  in  the  direction 
of  the  lamentation. 

"  You  wail  worse  than  a  dog  of  a  Lutheran  under 
the  yoke,"  he  said  in  as  good  a  voice  as  he  could 
muster  with  a  cut  in  his  lip.  "  What  matter  how 
much  Eminence  it  took  to  make  a  father  for  me  —  or 
how  many  duchesses  to  make  a  mother?  I  am 
labelled  as  plain  Ruy  Sandoval  and  shipped  till  called 
for.  If  you  are  to  instruct  my  youth  in  the  path  it 
should  tread  —  why  not  start  in  with  a  lesson  on 
discretion?  " 

At  this  hopeful  sign  of  life  from  the  bundle  of 
bandages  on  the  monk's  bed,  Maestro  Diego  ap- 
proached and  looked  over  his  illustratious  charge 
with  a  careful  eye. 

"  Discretion  has  limped  far  behind  —  enterprise, 
else  your  highness  would  cut  a  different  figure  by 
now  —  and  — 

"  Choke  back  your  infernal  highnesses !  "  growled 


o  Don  Ruy,  a  Message  in  the  Moonlight 

Page  63 


THE  SILKEN  SCARF  65 


the  younger  man.  "  I  know  well  what  your  task  is 
to  be  here  in  this  new  land:  —  it  is  to  send  back  re- 
ports of  duty  each  time  I  break  a  rule  or  get  a  broken 
head.  Now  by  the  Blood,  and  the  Cross,  if  you 
smother  not  your  titles,  and  let  me  range  free,  I  tell 
you  the  thing  I  will  do :  —  I  will  send  back  a  com- 
plaint against  you  to  Seville  —  and  to  make  sure  that 
it  goes,  no  hand  shall  carry  it  but  your  own.  Ere 
they  can  find  another  nurse  maid  for  my  morals, 
I'll  build  me  a  ship  and  go  sailing  the  South  seas  for 
adventure  —  and  your  court  tricksters  will  have  a 
weary  time  in  the  chase !  I  like  you  better  than  many 
another  godly  spy  who  might  have  been  sent,  and 
I  promise  myself  much  joy  in  the  journal  of  strange 
travels  it  is  in  your  mind  to  write.  But  once  for  all, 
remember,  we  never  were  born  into  the  world  until 
a  week  ago !  " 

"  But  your  Excellency  — 

"By  the  Great  Duke  of  Hell!  Will  you  not 
bridle  your  tongue  when  the  damned  monks  are  three 
deep  at  the  key  hole?  " 

By  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  travels  of  the  pious 
Don  Diego  were  not  all  on  paths  of  roses. 

A  little  later  the  still  faced  priest  of  the  stealthy 
glances  came  in,  and  Don  Ruy  sat  on  the  side  of  the 
bed,  and  looked  him  over. 

"  You  are  the  one  who  picked  me  up  —  eh  ?  And 
the  gentlemen  of  the  streets  had  tossed  me  into  a 
corner  after  discreetly  starting  my  soul  on  its  travels ! 
Warm  trysts  your  dames  give  to  a  stranger  in  this 
land  —  when  you  next  confess  the  darlings,  whisper 
in  their  ears  to  be  less  bloodthirsty  towards  youth 
and  innocence !  " 

The  man  in  the  robe  smiled. 

"  That  unwise  maid  will  make  no  more  trysts,"  he 


66        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


said  quietly, — "  not  if  she  be  one  important  enough 
to  cause  an  assault  on  your  Highness." 
41  Did  they—?" 

"  No  —  no  —  harm  would  not  be  done  to  her, 
but  her  destiny  is  without  doubt  a  convent.  The 
men  who  spoiled  your  tryst  earn  no  purses  as  guard 
for  girls  of  the  street, —  sacred  walls  will  save  them 
that  trouble  for  a  time  —  whether  maid  or  wife  I 
dare  promise  you  that!  It  is  as  well  you  know. 
Time  is  wasted  seeking  adventure  placed  beyond 
mortal  reach." 

"Convent  —  eh?  Do  your  holy  retreats  teach 
the  little  tricks  the  lady  knew  ?  And  do  they  furnish 
their  vestals  with  poems  of  romance  and  silks  and 
spices  of  Kathay?  " 

He  drew  from  an  inner  pocket  a  little  scarf  of  apple 
green  with  knotted  fringes,  and  butterflies,  various 
colored  in  dainty  broidery.  As  the  folds  fell  apart  an 
oder  of  sweetness  stole  into  the  shadowy  room  of 
the  monastery,  and  the  priest  was  surprised  into  an 
ejaculation  at  sight  of  such  costly  evidence,  but  he 
smothered  it  hastily  in  a  muttered  prayer. 

After  that  he  listened  to  few  of  the  stranger's  gibes 
and  quips,  but  with  a  book  of  prayers  on  his  knee 
he  looked  the  youth  over  carefully,  recalled  the  out- 
burst of  Don  Diego  as  to  origin,  and  the  advent- 
urer's own  threat  to  build  a  ship  and  sail  where  chance 
pointed.  Plainly,  this  seeker  of  trysts,  or  any  other 
thing  promising  adventure,  had  more  of  resource  than 
one  might  expect  from  a  battered  stranger  lifted  out 
of  the  gutter  for  the  last  rites. 

The  priest  —  who  looked  a  good  soldier  and  who 
was  called  Padre  Vicente  "  de  los  Chichimecos  "  (of 
the  wild  tribes)  read  further  in  his  book  of  hours, 
and  then  spoke  the  thing  in  his  mind. 


THE  SILKEN  SCARF  67 


"  For  a  matter  of  many  years  in  this  land  of  the 
Indies  I  have  waited  for  a  man  of  discreet  determina- 
tion for  a  certain  work.  The  virgin  herself  led  me 
to  the  gutter  where  you  groaned  in  the  dark,  and  I 
here  vow  to  build  her  a  chapel  if  this  thought  of  mine 
bears  fruit." 

"  Hump !  My  thanks  to  our  Lady, —  and  I  my- 
self will  see  to  the  building  of  the  chapel.  But  tell 
me  of  the  tree  you  would  plant,  and  we'll  then  have 
a  guess  at  the  fruit.  It  may  prove  sour  to  the  taste ! 
Monkly  messes  appealed  to  me  little  on  the  other 
side  of  the  seas.  IVe  yet  to  test  their  flavor  on  this 
shore  of  adventure." 

Padre  Vicente  ignored  the  none  too  respectful*  com- 
ment —  and  took  from  his  pocket  a  bit  of  virgin  gold 
strung  on  a  thread  of  deer  sinew. 

"  Your  name  is  Don  Ruy  Sandoval,"  he  said. 
"  You  are  in  this  land  for  adventure.  You  content 
yourself  with  the  latticed  window  and  the  strife  of 
the  streets  —  why  not  look  for  the  greater  things  ? 
You  have  wealth  and  power  at  your  call  —  why  not 
search  for  an  empire  of  —  this?  " 

Then  he  showed  the  virgin  gold  worn  smooth  by 
much  wearing. 

Don  Ruy  blinked  under  the  bandage  and  swore  by 
Bradamante  of  the  adventure  that  he  would  search 
for  it  gladly  if  but  the  way  was  shown. 

"  Where  do  we  find  this  golden  mistress  of 
yours?"  he  demanded,  "and  why  have  you  waited 
long  for  a  comrade?  " 

"  The  gold  is  in  the  north  where  none  dare  openly 
seek  treasure,  or  even  souls,  since  Coronado  came 
back  broken  and  disgraced.  I  have  waited  for  the 
man  of  wealth  who  dared  risk  it,  and  —  at  whose 
going  the  Viceroy  could  wink." 


68       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  Why  wink  at  me  —  rather  than  another?  " 

"  That  is  a  secret  knotted  in  the  fringes  of  the 
silken  scarf  there  — "  said  Padre  Vicente  with  a  grim 
smile.  "  Cannot  a  way  be  found  to  clear  either  a 
convent  or  a  palace  of  a  trouble  breeder,  when  the 
church  itself  lends  a  hand?  You  were  plainly  a 
breeder  of  trouble,  else  had  you  escaped  the  present 
need  of  bandages.  For  the  first  time  I  see  a  way 
where  Church  and  the  government  of  the  Indies  can 
go  with  clasped  hands  to  this  work.  In  gold  and 
converts  the  work  may  prove  mighty.  How  mighty 
depends  whether  you  come  to  the  Indies  to  kill  time 
until  the  day  you  are  recalled  —  or  improve  that 
time  by  success  where  Coronada  failed." 

"  And  if  we  echo  his  failure?  " 

"  None  will  be  the  wiser  even  then !  You  plan 
for  a  season  of  hunting  in  the  hills.  I  plan  for  a 
mission  visit  by  the  Sea  of  Cortez.  Mine  will  be  the 
task  to  see  how  and  where  our  helpers  join  each  other 
and  all  the  provisioning  of  man  and  beast.  Mine  also 
to  make  it  clear  to  the  Viceroy  that  you  repent  your — 

"  Hollo !  " —  Don  Ruy  interrupted  with  a  grimace. 
"  You  are  about  to  say  I  repent  of  folly  —  or  the 
enticing  of  a  virgin  —  or  that  I  fell  victim  to  the 
blandishments  of  some  tricky  dame  —  I  know  all 
that  cant  by  rote !  —  a  man  always  repents  until  his 
broken  head  is  mended,  but  all  that  is  apart  from  the 
real  thing  —  which  is  this :  —  In  what  way  does  my 
moment  with  a  lady  in  the'  dark  affect  the  Viceroy 
of  the  Indies?  Why  should  his  Excellency  trouble 
himself  that  Ruy  Sandoval  has  a  broken  head  —  and 
a  silken  scarf?  " 

Padre  Vicente  stared  —  then  smiled.  Ruy  San- 
doval had  not  his  wits  smothered  by  the  cotton  wool 
of  exalted  pamperings. 


THE  SILKEN  SCARF  69 


"  I  will  be  frank  with  you,"  he  said  at  last.  "  The 
Viceroy  I  have  not  yet  addressed  on  this  matter.  But 
such  silken  scarfs  are  few  —  that  one  would  not  be 
a  heavy  task  to  trace  to  its  owner." 

"Ah!  —  I  suspected  your  eminence  had  been  a 
gallant  in  your  time,"  remarked  Don  Ruy,  amicably 
— "  It  is  not  easy  to  get  out  of  the  habit  of  noticing 
alluring  things :  —  that  is  why  I  refused  to  do 
penance  for  my  birth  by  turning  monk,  and  shroud- 
ing myself  in  the  gown !  Now  come  —  tell  me ! 
You  seem  a  good  fellow  —  tell  me  of  the  "  Dona 
Bradamante  "  of  the  silks  and  the  spices." 

"  The  destiny  of  that  person  is  probably  already 
decided,"  stated  the  priest  of  the  wild  tribes,  "  she  is, 
if  I  mistake  not,  too  close  to  the  charge  of  the 
Viceroy  himself  for  that  destiny  to  be  questioned. 
The  mother,  it  is  said,  died  insane,  and  the  time 
has  come  when  the  daughter  also  is  watched  with  all 
care  lest  she  harm  herself  —  or  her  attendants.  So 
I  hear  —  the  maid  I  do  not  know,  but  the  scarf  I 
can  trace.  Briefly  —  the  evident  place  for  such  a 
wanton  spitfire  is  the  convent.  You  can  easily  see 
the  turmoil  a  woman  like  that  can  make  as  each  ship 
brings  adventurers  —  and  she  seeks  a  lover  out  of 
every  group." 

"  Jesus !  —  and  hell  to  come !  Then  I  was  only 
one  of  a  sort  —  all  is  fish  to  the  net  of  the  love  lorn 
lady !  Maestro  Diego  would  have  had  the  romance 
and  the  lily  if  he  had  walked  ahead  instead  of  be- 
hind me!  — and  he  could  have  had  the  broken  head 
as  well!  "  The  he  sniffed  again  at  the  bit  of  silk, 
and  regarded  the  monk  quizzically. 

"  You  have  a  good  story,  and  you  tell  it  well,  holy 
father,"  he  said  at  ast, — "  and  I  am  troubled  in  my 
mind  to  know  how  little  of  it  may  be  truth,  and  how 


70        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


much  a  godly  lie.  But  the  gold  at  last  is  true  gold, 
and  whatever  the  trick  of  the  lady  may  be,  you  say 
it  will  serve  to  win  for  me  the  privilege  to  seek  the 
mines  without  blare  of  trumpets.  Hum !  —  it  is  a 
great  favor  for  an  unknown  adventurer." 

"  Unknown  you  may  be  to  the  people  of  the  streets, 
and  to  your  ship  mates,"  agreed  the  Padre.  "  But 
be  sure  the  Viceroy  has  more  than  a  hint  that  you  are 
not  of  the  rabble.  The  broils  you  may  draw  to  your- 
self may  serve  to  disquiet  him  much  —  yet  he  would 
scarce  send  you  to  the  stocks,  or  the  service  of  the 
roads.  Be  sure  he  would  rather  than  all  else  bid 
you  god  speed  on  a  hunting  journey." 

"  But  that  you  are  so  given  to  frankness  I  should 
look  also  for  a  knife  in  the  back  to  be  included  in 
his  excellency's  favors,"  commented  Don  Ruy. 
"  Name  of  the  Devil !  —  what  have  I  done  since  I 
entered  the  town,  but  hold  hands  with  one  woman  in 
the  dark — and  be  made  look  as  if  I  had  been  laid 
across  a  butcher  block  on  a  busy  day!  Hell  take 
such  a  city  to  itself !  I've  no  fancy  for  halting  over 
long  in  a  pit  where  a  gentleman's  amusements  are  so 
little  understood.  If  the  Dona  of  the  scarf  were 
aught  but  an  amiable  maniac  the  thing  would  be 
different.  I  would  stay  —  and  I  would  find  her  and 
together  we  would  weave  a  new  romance  for  a  new 
world  poet!  But  as  it  is,  gather  your  cut  throats 
and  name  the  day,  and  we'll  go  scouring  the  land  for 
heathen  souls  and  yellow  clinkers." 

Padre  Vicente  de  Bernaldez  was  known  by  his 
wonderful  mission-work  to  be  an  ecclesiastic  of  most 
adventurous  disposition.  Into  wild  lands  and  beyond 
the  Sea  of  Cortez  had  he  gone  alone  to  the  wild  tribes 
—  so  far  had  he  gone  that  silence  closed  over  his  trail 


THE  SILKEN  SCARF 


11 


like  a  grave  at  times  —  but  out  of  the  Unknown  had 
he  come  in  safety ! 

His  fame  had  reached  beyond  his  order  —  and 
Ruy  Sandoval  knew  that  it  was  no  common  man  who 
spoke  to  him  of  the  Indian  gold. 

"  Francisco  de  Coronado,"  stated  this  padre  of  the 
wilderness,  "  came  back  empty  handed  from  the  north 
land  of  the  civilized  Indians  for  the  reason  that  he 
knew  not  where  to  search.  The  gold  is  there.  This 
is  witness.  It  came  to  me  from  a  man  who  —  is 
dead!  It  was  given  him  by  a  woman  of  a  certain 
tribe  of  sun  worshippers.  To  her  it  was  merely 
some  symbol  of  their  pagan  faith  —  some  priestly 
circle  dedicated  to  the  sun.'* 

"  It  sounds  well,"  agreed  Don  Ruy  — "  but  the 
trail?  Who  makes  the  way?  And  what  force  is 
needed?  " 

For  a  guide  the  Padre  Vicente  had  a  slave  of  that 
land,  a  man  of  Te-hua  baptized  Jose,  for  five  years 
the  padre  had  studied  the  words  and  the  plans.  The 
man  would  gladly  go  to  his  own  land, —  he  and  his 
wife.  All  that  was  required  was  a  general  with 
wealth  for  the  conquest.  There  were  pagan  souls 
to  be  saved,  and  there  was  wealth  for  the  more 
worldly  minds.  The  padre  asked  only  a  tenth  for 
godly  reasons. 

Thus  between  church  and  state  was  the  expedition 
of  his  Excellency  Don  Ruy  Sandoval  ignored  except 
as  a  hunting  journey  to  the  North  coast  of  the  Cortez 
Sea  —  if  he  ranged  farther  afield,  his  own  be  the 
peril,  for  no  troops  of  state  were  sent  as  companions. 
The  good  father  had  selected  the  men  —  most  of 
them  he  had  confessed  at  odd  times  and  knew  their 
metal.    All  engaged  as  under  special  duty  to  the 


72        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


cross :  —  it  was  to  be  akin  to  a  holy  pilgrimage,  and 
absolution  for  strange  things  was  granted  to  the  men 
who  would  bear  arms  and  hold  the  quest  as  secret. 

Most  of  them  thought  the  patron  was  to  be  Mother 
Church,  and  regarded  it  as  a  certain  entrance  to  Para- 
dise. Don  Ruy  himself  meekly  accepted  a  role  of 
the  least  significance :  —  a  mere  seeker  of  pleasure 
adventures  in  the  provinces!  It  would  not  be  well 
that  word  of  risk  or  danger  be  sent  across  seas  — and 
the  Viceroy  could  of  course  only  say  "  god  speed 
you  "  toa  gentleman  going  for  a  ride  with  his  serv- 
ants and  his  major  domo. 

And  thus :  —  between  a  hair  brained  adventurer 
and  a  most  extolled  priest,  began  the  third  attempt  to 
reach  the  people  called  by  New  Spain,  the  Pueblos :  — 
the  strangely  learned  barbarians  who  dwelt  in  walled 
towns  —  cultivating  field  by  irrigation,  and  worship- 
ping their  gods  of  the  sun,  or  the  moon,  or  the  stars 
through  rituals  strange  as  those  of  Pagan  Egypt. 

Word  had  reached  Mexico  of  the  martyrdom  of 
Fray  Juan  Padilla  at  Ci-bo-la,  but  in  the  far  valley 
of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte  —  called  by  the  tribes 
the  river  Po-son-ge, — Fray  Luis  de  Escalona  might 
be  yet  alive  carrying  on  the  work  of  salvation  of  souls. 

The  young  Spanish  adventurer  listened  with 
special  interest  as  the  devotion  and  sacrifices  of  Fray 
Luis  were  extolled  in  the  recitals. 

"  If  he  lives  we  will  find  that  man,"  he  determined. 
"  He  was  nobly  born,  and  of  the  province  of  my 
mother.  I've  heard  the  romance  for  which  he 
cloaked  himself  in  the  gray  robe.  He  should  be  a 
prince  of  the  church  instead  of  a  wandering  lay 
brother  —  we  will  have  a  human  thing  to  search  for 
in  the  world  beyond  the  desert  —  ours  will  be  a 
crusade  to  rescue  him  from  the  infidel  lands." 


CHAPTER  VIII 


[THE  STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL 

D ON  DIEGO  marvelled  much  at  the  brisk- 
ness of  the  plans  for  a  season  of  hunting  ere 
his  troublesome  charge  was  well  able  to  see 
out  of  both  eyes.  But  on  being  told  that  the  range 
might  be  wide,  he  laid  in  a  goodly  stock  of  quills  and 
parchment,  for  every  league  of  the  land  would  bring 
new  things  to  his  knowledge. 

These  records  were  to  be  entitled  "  Relaciones  of 
the  New  and  Wondrous  Land  of  the  Indian's  Island  " 
and  in  those  Relaciones  the  accounts  of  Padre  Vicente 
were  to  loom  large.  Among  the  pagan  people  his 
war  against  the  false  gods  had  been  ruthless.  Maes- 
tro Diego  was  destined  to  hear  more  of  the  padres 
method  than  he  dared  hope  in  the  earlier  days. 

Jose,  the  Indian  of  the  North  whose  Te-hua  name 
was  Khen-zah,  went  with  them  —  also  his  wife  —  the 
only  woman,  for  without  her  the  man  would  not  go  in 
willingness.  Two  only  were  the  members  added  by 
Don  Ruy  to  the  cavalcade  —  one  a  stalwart  fellow 
of  many  scars  named  Juan  Gonzalvo  who  had  known 
service  with  Pizarro  in  the  land  of  gold  —  had  lost 
all  his  coin  in  an  unlucky  game,  and  challenged  the 
young  strange?  from  Seville  for  the  loan  of  a  stake  to 
gamble  with  and  win  back  his  losses.  He  looked 
good  for  three  men  in  a  fight.  Instead  of  helping 
him  in  a  game,  Don  Ruy  invited  him  on  the  hunting 
trip ! 

The  other  addition  was  as  different  as  might  be 
73 


74,        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


from  the  toughened,  gambling  conquistador  —  a  mere 
lad,  who  brought  a  letter  from  the  hand  of  the  Vice- 
roy as  a  testimonial  that  the  lad  was  a  good  scribe  if 
it  so  happened  that  his  sanctity  the  padre  —  or  his 
Excellency  Don  Ruy,  should  need  such  an  addition  in 
the  new  lands  where  their  hunting  camps  were  to  be. 
The  boy  was  poor  but  for  the  learning  given  him  by 
the  priests, —  his  knowledge  was  of  little  save  the 
knowledge  of  books.  But  his  willingness  to  learn 
was  great,  and  he  would  prove  of  use  as  a  clerk  or 
page  as  might  be. 

Padre  Vicente  was  not  present,  and  the  cavalcade 
was  already  two  days  on  the  trail,  but  Don  Ruy  read 
the  letter,  and  looked  the  lad  over. 

"  Your  name  is  — " 

"  Manuel  Lenares  —  and  called  '  Chico  '  because 
I  am  not  yet  so  tall  as  I  may  be." 

u  It  should  be  Manuella  because  you  look  not  yet 
so  manlike  as  you  may  be,"  declared  Ruy  Sandoval, 

—  and  laughed  as  the  angry  color  swept  the  face  of 
the  lad.  "  By  our  Lady,  IVe  known  many  a  dame 
of  high  degree  would  trade  several  of  her  virtues  for 
such  eyes  and  lips !  Tush  —  boy !  Have  no  shame 
to  possess  them  since  they  will  wear  out  in  their  own 
time!    I  can  think  of  no  service  you  could  be  to  me 

—  yet  —  I  have  another  gentleman  of  the  court  with 
me  holding  a  like  office  —  Name  of  the  Devil:  —  it 
would  be  a  fine  jest  to  bestow  upon  him  a  helper  for 
the  ponderous  '  Relaciones  ' !  "  and  Don  Ruy  chuckled 
at  the  thought,  while  the  lad  stood  in  sulky  em- 
barrassment —  willing  to  work,  but  not  to  be  laughed 
at. 

He  was  dressed  as  might  be  in  the  discarded  gar- 
ments of  magnificence,  well  worn  and  visibly  made 
over  to  fit  his  young  figure.    His  cloak  of  old  scarlet, 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  75 


too  large  for  him,  covered  a  patched  shirt  and  jacket, 
and  reached  to  his  sandel  straps  of  russet  leather:  — 
scarce  the  garb  of  a  page  of  the  Viceregal  court,  yet 
above  that  of  the  native  servant. 
"  You  are  —  Spanish  ?  " 

Again  the  face  of  the  youth  flushed,  and  he  shrug- 
ged his  shoulders  and  replaced  his  velvet  cap  with  its 
pert  cock's  feather. 

"  I  have  more  than  enough  Spanish  blood  to  send 
me  to  the  Christian  rack  or  stake  if  they  caught  me 
worshipping  the  pagan  gods  of  my  grandmother,"  he 
stated  briefly,  and  plainly  had  so  little  hope  of  win- 
ning service  that  he  was  about  to  make  his  bow  and  de- 
part in  search  of  the  Padre. 

But  the  retort  caught  Don  Ruy,  and  he  held  the  lad 
by  the  shoulder  and  laughed. 

"  Of  all  good  things  the  saints  could  send,  you  are 
the  best,"  he  decided  — "  and  by  that  swagger  I'll  be 
safe  to  swear  your  grandsire  was  of  the  conquistadores 
—  I  thought  so !  Well  Chico :  —  you  are  engaged 
for  the  service  of  secretary  to  Maestro  Diego  Maria 
Francisco  Brancadori.  You  work  is  seven  days  in  the 
week  except  when  your  protector  marks  a  saint's  day 
in  red  ink.  On  that  day  you  will  have  only  prayers 
to  record,  on  the  other  days  you  will  assist  at  many 
duties  concerning  a  wonderous  account  of  the  adven- 
tures Don  Diego  hopes  for  in  the  heathen  land." 

"  Hopes  for :  —  your  Excellency  ?  " 

"  Hopes  for  so  ardently  that  our  comfort  may  rest 
in  seeing  that  he  meets  with  little  of  disappointment 
on  the  trail." 

For  one  instant  the  big  black  eyes  of  the  lad  flashed 
a  shy  appreciation  of  Don  Ruy's  sober  words  and 
merry  smile. 

"  For  it  is  plain  to  be  seen,"  continued  that  gentle- 


76        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


man  — "  that  if  Don  Diego  finds  nothing  to  make 
record  of,  your  own  wage  will  be  a  sad  trial  and  ex- 
pense." 

"  I  understand,  your  Excellency." 
You  will  receive  the  perquisites  of  a  secretary  if 
you  have  indeed  understanding,"  continued  Don  Ruy, 
"  but  if  there  are  no  records  to  chronicle  you  will  get 
but  the  pay  of  a  page  and  no  gifts  to  look  for.  Does 
it  please  you?  " 

"  It  is  more  than  a  poor  lad  who  owns  not  even  a 
bedding  blanket  could  have  hoped  for,  serior,  and  I 
shall  earn  the  wage  of  a  secretary.  That  of  a  page 
I  could  earn  without  leaving  the  streets  and  comfort." 

"  Oho !  "  And  again  the  eyes  of  Don  Ruy  wan- 
dered over  the  ill  garbed  figure  and  tried  to  fit  it  to  the 
bit  of  swagger  and  confidence. —  "  I  guessed  at  your 
grandfather  —  now  I'll  have  a  turn  at  you :  —  Is  it  a 
runaway  whom  I  am  venturing  to  enroll  in  this  re- 
spectable company  of  sober  citizens?  " 

"Your  Excellency!"  the  lad  hung  his  head  yet 
watched  the  excellency  out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye, 
and  took  heart  at  the  smile  he  saw  — "  it  is  indeed 
true  there  are  some  people  I  did  not  call  upon  to  say 
farewell  ere  offering  my  services  to  you,  but  it  is  plain 
to  see  I  carried  away  not  any  one's  wealth  in  goods 
and  chattals." 

"  That  is  easily  to  be  perceived,"  said  Don  Ruy  and 
this  time  he  did  not  laugh,  for  with  all  his  light  heart 
he  was  too  true  a  gentleman  to  make  sport  of  poverty 
such  as  may  come  to  the  best  of  men.  "  By  our  Lady, 
I've  a  feeling  of  kinship  for  you  in  that  you  are  a 
runaway  indeed  — i  this  note  mentions  the  teaching  of 
the  priests  —  I'll  warrant  they  meant  to  make  a  monk 
of  you." 

"If  such  hopes  are  with  them,  they  must  wait  until 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  77 


I  am  born  again,"  decided  the  lad,  and  again  Don  Ruy 
laughed:  —  the  lad  was  plainly  no  putty  for  the 
moulding,  and  there  was  chance  of  sport  ahead  with 
such  a  helper  to  Maestro  Diego. 

"  It  will  be  my  charge  to  see  that  you  are  not  over 
much  troubled  with  questions,"  said  his  employer,  and 
handed  back  the  letter  of  commendation.  "  None 
need  know  when  you  were  engaged  for  this  very  im- 
portant work.  Jose  over  there  speaks  Spanish  as 
does  Ysobel  his  wife.  Tell  them  you  are  to  have  a 
bed  of  good  quality  if  it  be  in  the  camp  —  and  to  take 
a  blanket  of  my  own  outfit  if  other  provisions  fall 
short." 

A  muttered  word  of  thanks  was  the  only  reply,  and 
Don  Ruy  surmised  that  the  boy  was  made  dumb  by 
kindness  when  he  had  braced  himself  for  quips  and 
cuffs  —  knowing  as  he  must  —  that  he  was  light  of 
build  for  the  road  of  rough  adventure. 

"  Ho  I  —  Lad  of  mine !  "  he  called  when  the  youth 
had  gone  a  few  paces  — "  I  trust  you  understand  that 
you  travel  with  a  company  of  selected  virtues?  —  and 
that  you  are  a  lucky  dog  to  be  attached  to  the  most 
pious  and  godly  tutor  ever  found  for  a  boy  in  Spain." 

"  It  is  to  be  called  neighbor  of  these  same  virtues 
that  I  have  come  begging  a  bed  on  the  sand  when  I 
might  have  slept  at  home  on  a  quilt  of  feathers :  " — 
the  lad's  tongue  had  found  its  use  again  when  there 
was  chance  for  jest. 

"And—" 

"  Yes :  —  your  Excellency  ?  " 

"  As  to  that  pagan  grandmother  of  whom  you 
made  mention :  —  her  relationship  need  not  be  widely 
tooted  through  a  horn  on  the  journey  —  yet  of  all 
things  vital  to  the  honorable  Maestro  Diego  and  his 
"Relaciones,"  I  stand  surety  that  not  any  one  thing  will 


78        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


be  given  so  much  good  room  on  paper  as  the  things 
he  learns  of  the  heathen  worship  of  the  false  gods." 

"  A  nod  is  as  good  as  a  wink  to  a  mule  that  is 
blind!  "  called  back  the  lad  in  high  glee.  "  Happy 
am  I  to  have  your  excellency's  permission  to  hold  dis- 
course with  him  concerning  the  church  accursed  lore 
of  our  ancestral  idols !  " 

Then  he  joined  Jose  and  Ysobel  as  instructed,  and 
gave  the  message  as  to  bed  and  quarters.  Jose  said 
no  word  in  reply,  but  proceeded  to  secure  blankets, 
one  from  the  camp  of  Don  Ruy.  Ysobel  —  a  Mexi- 
can Indian  —  who  had  been  made  Christian  by  the 
padre  ere  she  could  be  included  in  the  company,  was 
building  a  fire  for  the  evening  meal.  Seeing  that  it 
burned  indifferently  the  new  page  thrust  under  the 
twigs  the  fine  sheet  of  paper  containing  the  signature 
of  the  Viceroy. 

Ysobel  made  an  exclamation  of  protest  —  but  it 
was  to  late  —  it  had  started  the  blaze  in  brave  order. 

"  Your  letter  —  if  you  should  need  it —  perhaps 
for  the  padre !  "  she  said. 

"  Rest  you  easy,  Nurse,"  said  the  lad  and  stretched 
himself  to  watch  the  supper  cooked.  "  I  have  no 
further  needs  in  life  but  supper  and  a  bed, —  see  to  it 
that  Jose  makes  it  near  you  own !  I  am  in  the  em- 
ploy of  Don  Ruy  Sandoval  for  a  period  indefinite. 
And  he  has  promised  —  laugh  not  out  loud  Ysobel ! 
—  that  he  will  see  to  it  I  am  not  questioned  as  to 
whence  or  why  I  came  to  seek  service  under  his  ban- 
ner !  —  even  the  holy  father  is  set  aside  by  that 
promise  —  I  tell  you  that  laughter  is  not  to  be  al- 
lowed !  If  you  let  him  see  that  you  laugh,  I  will  beat 
you  when  we  are  alone,  Ysobel  —  I  will  though  you 
have  found  a  dozen  husbands  to  guard  you !  " 

Don  Ruy  did  see  the  laughter  of  the  woman,  and 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  79 


was  well  pleased  that  the  lad  could  win  smiles  from  all 
classes, —  such  a  one  would  lighten  weary  journeys. 

He  felt  that  he  had  done  well  by  Maestro  Diego. 
Plainly  the  quick  wit  of  the  lad  betokened  good  blood, 
let  him  prate  ever  so  surely  on  his  heathen  grand- 
mother ! 

Don  Diego  felt  much  flattered  at  the  consideration 
shown  by  Don  Ruy  for  the  "  Relaciones  " —  in  fact 
he  had  so  pleased  an  interest  in  the  really  clever  young 
pen-man  that  the  Padre  took  little  heed  of  the  boy  — 
he  was  of  as  much  account  as  a  pet  puppy  in  the  ex- 
pedition—  but  if  the  would-be  historian  needed  a 
secretary  —  or  fancied  he  did, —  the  lad  would  be 
less  trouble  than  an  older  man  if  circumstances  should 
arise  to  make  trouble  of  any  sort. 

So  it  chanced  that  Juan  Gonzalvo  and  Manuel  Len- 
ares,  called  Chico,  were  the  only  two  included  in  the 
company  who  had  not  been  confessed  and  enrolled  by 
Padre  Vicente  himself. 

It  was  the  magic  time  of  the  year,  when  new  leaves 
open  to  the  sun,  and  the  moon,  even  in  the  bare  desert 
stretches  of  the  land,  brought  dreams  of  Castile  to 
more  than  one  of  the  adventurers. 

"  Good  Father,"  said  Don  Ruy  with  feigned  com- 
plaint, "  Think  you  not  that  your  rigid  rules  for  the 
journey  might  have  stopped  short  of  hopeless  celibacy 
for  all  of  us  ?  —  Why  a  moon  like  that  and  Venus  as- 
cendent unless  to  make  love  by?  " 

"  The  brightness  of  that  same  moon  saved  you 
nothing  of  a  cracked  pate  the  hour  of  fortune  when 
we  first  met,"  observed  Padre  Vicente  drily. — 
"  Maids  or  matrons  on  the  journey  would  have 
caused  broken  heads  in  the  desert  as  handily  as  in  the 
city  streets." 

"By  the  faith  —  your  words  are  of  wisdom  and 


80        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


much  to  be  valued  by  his  highness,"  agreed  Don 
Diego.  "  Make  note  of  that  thought  for  the  Re- 
laciones  Chico,  my  son.  This  pious  quest  may  be  a 
discipline  of  most  high  import  to  all  of  us.  Wifeless 
should  we  ride  as  rode  the  crusaders  of  an  older  day." 

"  Tum-a-tum-tum !  "  Don  Ruy  trolled  a  fragment 
of  love  melody,  and  laughed: — "I  have  no  fancy 
for  your  penances.  Must  we  all  go  without  sweet- 
hearts because  you  two  have  elected  to  be  bachelors 
for  the  saving  of  souls?  Think  you  the  Indian  maids 
will  clamor  for  such  salvation?  I  lay  you  a  wager, 
good  father,  that  I  win  as  many  converts  with  love 
songs  and  a  strip  of  moonlight,  as  do  you  both  with 
bell  and  book!" 

Around  the  camp  fires  of  the  nights  strangs  tales 
were  told  —  and  strange  traits  of  character  uncon- 
sciously given  to  the  light,  and  to  all  the  far  seeing 
Padre  gave  note ;  —  in  emergencies  it  is  ever  well  to 
know  one's  resources. 

Jose  the  Te-hua  slave  —  caught  first  by  the  Navahu 
—  traded  to  the  Apaches  —  thence  to  neighbors  of 
the  south  —  after  years  of  exile,  was  the  one  who  had 
but  few  words.  All  the  queries  of  the  adventurers 
as  to  gold  in  the  north  gained  little  from  him  — 
only  he  remembered  that  fine  yellow  grains  were 
in  some  streams,  and  it  was  said  that  other  yellow 
metal  was  in  secret  places,  but  he  did  not  profess  to 
be  a  knower  of  High  Things  —  and  it  was  half  a  life 
time  since  his  eyes  had  rested  on  his  own  people. 

He  was  a  silent  man  whose  words  were  in  the  main 
for  his  Ysobel  and  the  boy  secretary.  But  the  gold 
nugget  worn  smooth  in  the  pocket  of  Padre  Vicente 
was  as  a  charm  to  find  its  parent  stock  in  all  good 
time!    Men  were  with  them  who  knew  minerals  in 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL'  81 


other  lands !  —  It  would  go  hard  but  that  It  should  be 
found ! 

He  willingly  let  the  nugget  pass  from  hand  to  hand : 
—  it  was  restful  as  sleep  to  make  the  trail  seem  short. 
To  Don  Ruy  he  had  told  somewhat  of  its  finding,  and 
the  story  in  full  was  promised  some  day  to  the  caval- 
cade. 

And  at  Ah-ko  where  they  rested  —  they  had  not 
halted  at  hostile  Ci-bo-la !  —  At  Ah-ko  where  the 
great  pool  on  the  high  mesa  made  glad  their  eyes,  and 
the  chiefs  came  to  pay  ceremonial  visits,  and  the  men 
felt  they  were  nearing  the  end;  —  there,  at  the  urging 
of  Don  Ruy  who  deemed  it  worthy  of  the  "  Rela- 
ciones  " —  there  was  told  the  story  of  the  bit  of  gold, 
the  Symbol  of  the  Sun,  as  it  had  been  told  to  Padre 
Vicente  years  before. 

"  Yes  —  I  did  mean  to  tell  you  of  the  finding  of 
it,"  he  announced  amiably.  "  I  have  listened  to  all 
your  discources  and  romances  on  the  journey  —  and 
good  ones  there  were  among  them !  But  mine  would 
not  have  been  good  to  tell  when  seeking  recruits,  it 
might  have  lessened  their  ardor  —  for  a  reason  you 
will  shortly  preceive !  " 

"  I  plainly  preceive  already  that  the  good  father 
has  saved  us  thus,  far  from  a  fright !  "  decided  Don 
Ruy. 

"  Since  a  man  lived  through  it  you  can  perhaps  en- 
dure the  telling  of  it  —  even  here  in  the  half  dark- 
ness," said  the  priest,  and  noted  that  Don  Diego  was 
sharpening  a  pen,  and  Chico  taking  an  ink  horn  from 
his  pocket.  The  journal  of  the  good  gentleman  had 
grown  to  be  one  of  the  joyful  things  of  the  journey, 
and  the  more  gay  adventurers  gave  him  some  won- 
drous tales  to  include. 


82        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  It  is  not  a  pretty  tale,  but  it  may  teach  you  some- 
what of  these  brown  people  of  the  stone  houses  —  and 
some  of  the  meaning  back  of  their  soft  smiles !  It  is 
not  a  new  tale  of  to-day :  —  it  goes  back  to  the  time 
when  the  vessels  of  Narvaez  went  to  the  bottom  and 
a  few  men  found  their  way  westward  to  Mexico." 

"  De  Vaca  and  his  men?"  said  Don  Diego.  But 
the  priest  shook  his  head. 

"  Earlier  than  that." 

"Earlier?  Holy  Father:  —  how  could  that  be 
when  no  others  — " 

"  Pardon  me :  —  you  are  about  to  say  no  others 
escaped,  are  you  not  ?  Have  you  forgotten  De  Vaca's 
own  statement  as  to  two  other  men  who  went  ashore 
before  the  sinking  of  the  vessels,  and  who  were  never 
heard  of  again? " 

"  I  have  heard  of  it  with  great  special  interest," 
announced  Don  Ruy  — "  heard  it  in  the  monastery 
on  the  island  of  Rhodes  where  the  white  man  you 
speak  of  (for  one  of  the  lost  ones  was  a  negro)  had 
as  a  boy  been  trained  in  godly  ways  by  the  Knights 
of  St.  John.  There  the  good  fathers  also  educated 
me  as  might  be  and  tried  with  all  zeal  to  make  a  monk 
of  me !  Ever  before  my  mind  was  held  the  evil  end 
of  the  other  youth  who  fled  from  the  consecrated  robe, 
—  for  he  had  made  a  scandal  for  a  pretty  nun  ere  he 
became  a  free  lance  and  joined  hands  with  Solyman 
the  Magnificent  against  Christendom, —  oh  —  many 
and  long  were  the  discourses  I  had  to  listen  to  of  that 
heretic  adventurer !  He  was  a  Greek  of  a  devout  and 
exalted  Christian  family,  and  his  name  was  Don 
Teodore." 

Juan  Gonzalvo  —  called  Capitan  Gonzalvo  in  fa- 
vor of  his  wide  experience  and  wise  management  of 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  83 


camp,  had  been  resting  idly  on  the  sands,  but  sat  up, 
alert  at  that  name. 

"  Holy  name  of  God:  — "  and  his  words  were  low 
and  keen  as  though  bitten  off  between  his  teeth  — 
"  is  he  then  alive?  Good  Father  —  was  it  he?  and 
is  he  still  alive?  " 

While  one  might  count  ten,  Padre  Vicente  looked 
in  silence  at  the  tense,  eager  face  of  his  questioner, 
and  the  others  stared  also,  and  felt  that  a  spark  had 
touched  powder  there. 

"  Yes :  —  it  is  true.  It  was  that  man,"  said  the 
priest  at  last.  "  But  why  do  you,  my  son,  wake  up  at 
the  name?  May  it  be  that  the  Greek  was  dear  to 
you?" 

"  He  should  be  dear  should  I  find  him,  or  any  of 
his  blood !  "  But  the  voice  of  the  careless  adventurer 
was  changed  and  was  not  nice  to  hear.  "  All  the 
gold  the  new  land  could  give  me  would  I  barter  but 
to  look  on  the  face  of  Don  Teo,  the  renegade 
Greek!" 

"  But  not  in  friendship?  " 

Juan  Gonzalvo  laughed,  and  Don  Diego  crossed 
himself  at  that  laugh, —  it  had  the  mockery  of  hell  in 
it,  and  the  priest  turned  and  gave  the  heretofore  care- 
less fellow  a  keener  attention  than  had  previously 
occurred  to  him.  By  so  little  a  thing  as  a  laugh  had 
the  adventurer  lifted  himself  from  the  level  where  he 
had  been  idly  assigned. 

"  You  will  not  look  on  his  face  in  this  world,  my 
son,"  said  the  priest,  "  and  enmities  should  cease  at 
the  grave.  The  man  is  dead.  You  could  have  been 
but  a  child  when  he  left  Spain,  what  evil  could  have 
given  him  your  hate?  " 

"  My  father  was  one  of  the  Christian  slaves  chained 


84        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


by  him  to  the  oars  of  Solyman  the  infidel  Turk! 
Long  days  and  horrible  nights  was  he  witness  to  the 
lives  of  Solyman  the  mignificent,  and  Don  Teodore 
the  fortunate.  When  the  end  came, —  when  the  mag- 
nificent patron  began  to  set  spies  on  his  favorite  lady 
of  the  harem,  the  tricky  Greek  escaped  one  dark  night, 
and  brought  up  in  Barcelona  as  an  escaped  slave  of 
the  Turk,  pretending  he  had  eluded  the  swords  of  the 
oppressor  after  dreadful  days  of  bondage.'7 

"  I  remember  that  time,"  said  Don  Diego.  "  He 
was  entertained  by  the  nobles,  and  plied  with  ques- 
tions, and  was  offered  a  good  office  in  the  next  crusade 
against  the  unsanctified  infidels." 

"  So  it  was  told  to  me,"  said  Juan  Gonzalvo  — 
"  told  by  a  man  whose  every  scar  spoke  of  the  Greek 
wolf!  I  was  told  of  them  as  other  children  are  told 
the  stories  of  the  blessed  saints.  My  first  toy  sword 
was  dedicated  to  the  cutting  down  of  that  thrice  ac- 
cursed infidel  and  all  his  blood.  God:  —  God:  — 
how  mad  I  was  when  I  was  told  the  savages  of  the 
new  world  had  done  me  wrong  by  sending  him  to  hell 
before  I  could  even  spell  his  name  for  curses !  " 

"  My  son !  You  are  doing  murder  in  your  heart !  " 
and  Padre  Vicente  held  up  the  crucifix  with  trembling 
hand. 

"  That  I  am!  "  agreed  Gonzalvo  and  laughed,  and 
laid  himself  down  again  to  rest  on  his  saddle. — 
"  Does  it  call  for  penance  to  kill  a  venemous  thing?  " 

"  A  human  soul !  "  admonished  the  priest. 

"Then  he  came  by  such  soul  later  in  life  than  his 
record  shows  trace  of!  "  declared  Juan  Gonzalvo,  and 
this  time  the  priest  was  silent. 

"  In  truth,  report  does  stand  by  our  friend  in  that," 
agreed  Don  Diego.  "  He  lived  as  a  Turk  among 
the  Turkish  pirates,  and  was  never  so  much  a  Chris- 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  85 


tian  as  are  those  who  serve  as  devils,  in  the  flames  of 
the  pit.  To  slay  the  infidel  is  not  to  slay  a  soul,  good 
father, —  or  —  if  you  are  of  that  mind,"  he  added 
with  an  attempt  at  lightness  which  sat  ill  on  him  — 
so  stiff  it  was  as  he  eyed  the  still  priest  warily, — "  if 
you  are  of  that  mind,  we  can  never  grow  dull  for  ar- 
gument in  the  desert  marches.  In  the  Holy  Office 
godly  men  of  the  Faith  work  daily  and  nightly  on  that 
question  even  now  in  Christian  Spain." 

The  priest  shuddered,  and  fingered  his  beads. 
Well  they  knew  in  those  days  the  "  question  "  and 
"  Holy  office  "  in  Christian  Spain.  The  rack  loomed 
large  enough  to  cast  its  shadow  even  to  the  new  found 
shores  at  the  other  side  of  the  world! 

And  plainly  he  read  also  that  two  otherwise  genial 
gentlemen  of  the  cavalcade  were  equipped  well  for  all 
fanatic  labor  where  Holy  Cross  or  personal  hates 
were  to  be  defended.  It  is  well  to  know  one's  com- 
rades, and  the  subject  of  the  Greek  had  opened  doors 
of  strange  revelation  to  him. 

"  The  mind  which  is  of  God  and  of  the  Holy 
Mother  Church  is  the  mind  for  the  judgments  of 
souls,"  said  Padre  Vicente  after  a  silence.  "  We  may 
thank  the  saints  that  we  are  not  called  on  to  condemn 
utterly  any  of  God's  children." 

"But  what  of  the  Devil's?"  asked  Don  Diego 
plainly  not  satisfied  with  the  evasive  reply  where  he 
had  least  expected  it.  "  What  of  the  children  of  the 
darkness  and  the  Evil  One?  " 

Padre  Vicente,  of  the  wild  tribes,  looked  around  the 
group  and  smiled.  Scarce  a  man  of  them  without  at 
least  one  lost  life  to  his  record  —  and  more  than  one 
with  murders  enough  on  his  list  to  have  won  him 
sainthood  if  all  had  been  done  for  the  Faith:  — 
which  they  were  not!    Back  of  them  crouched  dusky 


86        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


Indians  of  the  village,  watching  with  eager  yet  ap- 
parently kindly  interest,  this  after  supper  talk  of  the 
strange  white  men  of  the  iron  and  the  beasts,  who  had 
come  again  to  their  land.  The  priest  made  a  cigarro 
—  then  another  one,  lit  both  and  passed  the  first  made 
to  the  oldest  chief  —  the  Ruler  of  the  Indian  group. 
The  Indian  accepted  it  with  a  breath  of  prayer  on 
the  hand  of  the  reverend  father,  and  the  latter  sent 
out  smoke  in  a  white  cloud  ere  speaking. 

"  Every  brown  skin  here  is  a  worshipper  of  false 
gods,  and  is  therefore  a  son  of  Beelzebub  —  yet  to 
slaughter  them  for  that  won  no  favors  for  the  last 
Capitan-General  who  led  an  army  across  this 
land,"  he  remarked,  "  and  mine  must  not  be  the  task 
to  judge  of  their  infidelity  to  the  Saints  or  to  Christ 
the  Son  who  has  not  yet  spoken  to  them !  "  The 
words  were  uttered  with  an  air  of  finality.  Plainly 
he  did  not  mean  to  encourage  blood  lust  unless  neces- 
sary to  the  work  in  hand.  Don  Diego  sulkily  made 
the  sign  of  the  cross  at  the  Name,  and  Don  Ruy  noted 
that  the  good  father  was  good  on  the  parry  —  and  if 
he  could  use  a  blade  as  he  did  words,  he  would  be  a 
rare  fencer  for  sport.  One  could  clang  steel  all  day 
and  no  one  be  the  bearer  of  a  scratch ! 

"  Since  the  illustrious  and  much  sought  for  Greek 
is  without  doubt  serving  his  master  as  a  flame  in  hell, 
it  would  add  sweetness  to  a  fair  night  if  you  would 
tell  us  how  he  fared  at  the  hands  of  his  brown 
brothers,"  suggested  Don  Ruy — "  and  how  the  Devil 
found  his  own  at  last.  These  others  will  be  much 
entertained  to  hear  what  share  he  had  in  the  finding 
of  the  gold.  Strange  it  is  that  I  never  thought  to 
ask  the  name  of  the  man  —  or  you  to  tell  it!  " 

The  priest  hesitated  ever  so  slightly.    Was  he  of 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  87 


two  minds  how  much  to  tell  these  over  eager  adven- 
turers? Especially  that  one  of  the  curses !  But  the 
truth,  as  he  had  told  Don  Ruy  in  part,  was  an  easier 
thing  to  maintain,  and  keep  memory  of,  than  a  fiction 
dressed  up  for  the  new  man.  And  the  man  was 
watching  him  with  compelling  eyes,  and  the  boy  Chico, 
with  eyes  agog,  was  also  alert  for  his  endless  notes. 

"  Yes,  he  had  to  do  with  the  gold  —  much !  "  he 
said  at  last.  "  He  was  the  only  white  man  who  had 
been  told  the  secret  of  it." 

"  Ah-la-la !  "  murmured  Don  Ruy,  plainly  suggest- 
ing that  such  evidence  would  be  the  better  for  a  trusty 
witness. —  Padre  Vicente  heard  him,  and  puffed  his 
cigarro,  and  half  closed  his  eyes  in  his  strange  patient, 
pale  smile. 

"  But  it  is  true  for  all  that!"  he  insisted.  "  And 
of  all  places  we  have  crossed  since  Culiacan  was  left 
behind  us,  none  seems  more  fitting  than  this  for  the 
telling  of  his  story." 

His  eyes  glanced  over  the  men  circled  above  the 
great  pool.  The  stars  were  making  little  points  of 
light  in  the  rock  bound  water.  Far  below  in  the 
desert  a  coyote  called  to  his  intimates.  Indians 
loitered  at  the  edge  of  the  circle.  And  at  the  rim  of 
of  the  mesa,  and  high  places  of  the  natural  fortress, 
armed  sentinels  paced;  —  dusk  figures  against  the  far 
sky.  It  was  truly  a  place  made  for  tales  of  ad- 
venture. 

"  Whatever  evil  your  much  hated  Greek  was  guilty 
of,  there  is  one  question  to  ask:  —  in  monk's  cell,  or 
in  the  battles  for  the  wrong  —  left  he  the  record  of  a 
coward  ? 

"  No,"  acknowledged  Don  Diego  — "  but  his  zeal 
was  damnable  in  all  things." 


88        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  I  ask  because  various  things  which  he  endured 
could  scarcely  be  understood  if  you  put  him  in  the 
list  of  the  weak  or  the  incapable." 

"  Often  the  strength  of  the  Evil  One  is  a  stupen- 
dous force  for  his  chosen  people, "  agreed  Don  Diego. 
"  That  is  widely  known  in  Europe  to-day  when  Para- 
celsus with  infernal  magic  of  the  mind  makes 
cures  which  belong  by  every  right  to  the  saints 
alone !" 

"  And  the  people  are  truly  cured  of  their  ills  — 
truly  healed?  " 

"  Their  bodies  are  truly  healed  for  the  life  that  is 
temporal,  but  each  soul  is  doomed  for  the  life  that  is 
eternal.  No  Christian  doubts  that  the  mental  magic 
of  the  physician  is  donated  by  Beelzebub  whose  tool 
he  is." 

"  He  was  a  student  of  exceeding  depth," —  agreed 
Padre  Vicente  — "  and  it  may  be  he  has  found  magic 
forbidden  to  man.  But  the  Greek  laid  claim  to  no 
such  power  as  that,  however  much  it  is  said  that  the 
devil  loved  him !  He  had  only  a  strong  body,  and 
the  dislike  to  see  it  cut  to  pieces  for  a  heathen  holi- 
day." 

"  De  Soto,  it  is  said,  found  a  dirk  of  his  when  he 
crossed  the  land  of  Apalache  years  later,  seeking  em- 
pire. But  the  tribes  could  or  would  tell  nothing  of 
the  lost  Greek  and  the  negro  slave.  The  latter  was 
killed  by  the  people  called  Natchez,  and  the  Greek, 
who  had  been  among  many  things :  —  a  sailor, 
escaped  by  the  water,  leaving  no  trail  —  not  even  the 
trail  made  by  a  white  skin  in  a  land  of  dusk  people. 

"  From  the  Turks  he  had  learned  a  trick  of  using 
stain  of  barks  and  herbs.  His  hair  was  of  brown, 
but  the  eyebrows  and  lashes  were  heavy  and  dark. 
After  using  such  concoction,  a  mirror  of  clear  water 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  89 


showed  him  no  trace  of  himself  except  the  eyes  — 
they  were  blue  beyond  hope,  but  the  heavy  lashes  were 
a  help  and  a  shadow. 

"  With  stolen  arms  of  bow,  hatchet,  and  a  flint 
knife,  the  man  went  north  —  wading  the  river  edge 
at  night,  and  hiding  by  day  until  the  land  of  the 
Natchez  was  left  behind.  A  strong  river  came  from 
the  west  —  and  an  old  canoe  gave  him  hope  of  finding 
New  Spain  by  the  water  course.  That  journey  was 
a  tedious  thing  of  night  prowlings,  hidings,  and, 
sometimes  starvings.  Then  the  end  of  solitude  came, 
and  he  was  captured  by  heathen  rangers. 

They  were  a  large  company  and  were  travelling 
west.  Later  he  learned  they  were  a  war  company  and 
in  a  fight  his  master  and  most  of  the  others  were 
killed.  At  the  rejoicing  of  the  victors,  he  sang 
louder,  and  danced  more  wildly  than  all  the  others, 
so  they  did  not  kill  him.  He  was  traded  to  other 
Indians  further  west  for  a  painted  robe  and  some 
clay  pots.  This  last  move  brought  him  to  the  vil- 
lages of  the  stream,  named  later  by  Coronado  the  Rio 
Grande,  but  called  by  the  Indians  another  name,  the 
Po-son-ge." 

"The  very  villages  where  we  are  to  go?"  de- 
manded Don  Ruy. 

"  Possibly  some  of  the  same,"  said  the  priest. 
"  How  many  of  you  remember  the  great  comet  of 
1528?" 

Several  did,  and  all  remembered  the  dread  and 
horror  it  spread  in  Western  Europe. 

"  Think  you  then  what  that  same  threat  in  the  sky 
must  have  been  to  these  wild  people  who  seek  magic 
ever  from  the  stars  and  even  the  clouds.  It  was  a 
threat  and  it  called  for  some  sacrifice  propitiating  the 
angry  gods." 


90       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"Sacrifice?  Do  these  infidels  then  practise  such 
abominations?  "  asked  Don  Diego. 

"  To  look  at  the  mild  eyes  and  hear  their  soft 
voices  of  these  our  guests  it  is  not  easy  to  think  it," 
agreed  Padre  Vicente,  "  but  these  people  are  but  the 
northern  cousins  of  the  men  Cortez  conquered  — 
their  customs  differ  only  in  degree.  To  both  Venus 
and  Mars  were  human  god-offerings  made  —  that 
day  of  sacrifice  is  not  so  long  past,  and  in  that  day  it 
was  done  here." 

"And?" 

"  And  your  lucky  Greek  was  the  one  to  be  chosen ! 
He  was  fed  well  as  one  would  fatten  an  ox  for  the 
knife.  He  had  some  knowledge  of  simple  remedies, 
and  in  brewing  herbs  for  their  sick  he  had  also  stolen 
the  opportunity  for  the  further  addition  to  his  coat 
of  color.  He  was  to  them  an  Indian  of  an  unknown 
tribe,  yet,  since  he  was  to  be  offered  to  the  gods,  he 
was  made  the  very  center  of  ceremonial  dances,  and 
infernal  heathenish  customs. 

"  Both  men  and  women  enter  into  certain  sacred  — 
or  infernal  orders,  whose  ceremonies  are  only  known 
to  those  initiate.  An  inter-tribal  connection  is  kept 
up  in  such  societies  between  villages  speaking  a  to- 
tally different  language, —  even  though  the  tribes  be 
at  war,  there  is  always  a  truce  for  these  wild  creatures 
who  dance  together  for  some  magic,  or  some  prayer 
to  their  false  gods." 

"  And  the  truce  is  kept?  " 

"  It  would  not  be  possible  for  a  tribe  to  break  truce 
of  their  diabolical  things  of  their  spirits.  At  the 
ceremonies  for  the  sacrifice  to  the  comet  god  was  a 
girl  of  another  tribe,  and  when  the  Greek  noted  that 
her  desire  was  not  to  see  him  destroyed,  he  had  the 
first  glimpse  of  hope, —  the  only  other  he  had  was 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  91 


to  remove  the  stain  in  some  way,  and  convince  them 
that  their  gods  had  made  a  miracle  to  save  him." 

The  priest  made  a  gesture  towards  the  great  sand 
drifts  at  every  side  of  rock  wall  and  column. 

"  To  which  of  you  would  it  occur,  if  hiding  meant 
chance  of  life  —  to  which  of  you  would  it  occur  to  go 
under  that  sand  for  days  so  close  to  the  trail  that  the 
women  with  the  water  jars  would  pass  you  scores  of 
times  in  a  day  carrying  water  from  this  pool?  " 

44  This  pool?  —  this — " — the  eyes  of  Don  Ruy 
lightened  — "  this  is  then  that  place  of  the  great 
danger? " 

"  A  man  could  not  hide  in  the  sand  like  that  —  nor 
deceive  these  wild  trailers  of  animals,"  decided  Don 
Diego  — "  and  of  a  certainty  it  could  not  be  close  to 
the  trail !  " 

"  So  we  would  naturally  think,"  decided  Padre 
iVicente.  "  But  the  Indian  girl  was  wiser  than  our 
wisdom,  Senor,  for  she  did  aid  his  escape,  and  she  did 
hide  him  there.  To  get  breath,  his  face  was  touching 
a  great  wall  of  rock  against  which  another  was  care- 
lessly laid.  The  place  had  been  chosen  with  a 
knowledge  that  seemed  inspired  —  for  only  close  to 
the  trail  where  the  sand  was  like  to  be  disturbed  by 
naked  romping  children, —  only  there  in  all  these 
deserts  could  he  have  been  hidden  from  their  hunters." 

"Here?  —  in  this  place?"  again  said  Don  Ruy. 
11  Holy  father  it  is  a  good  story  —  yet  sounds  a  ro- 
mance fantastic  to  fit  this  weird  place  of  the  pool  and 
the  star  shine  of  the  night?  " 

"  By  the  name  of  these  people,  the  Queres,  and  the 
name  of  the  village  Ah-ko,  this  should  be  the  place  of 
the  sacrificial  intentions,"  said  the  priest.  "  By  the 
careful  account  given,  this  is  the  pool  to  which  the 
trail  led,  and  it  may  even  be  that  the  ancient  Cacique 


92         THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


to  whom,  but  now,  I  gave  the  cigarro,  was  chief  priest 
of  the  sacrifice  in  that  day." 

"  A  truly  delectable  neighbor  for  a  help  to  pleasant 
fancy,"  said  Don  Ruy  and  laughed.  "  If  the  amiable 
devil  should  be  moved  to  sacrifice  now,  I  would  be  the 
nearest  to  his  hand  —  think  you  he  would  make  ill 
use  of  my  youth  and  tenderness?  " 

"  His  Sanctity,  the  padre  was  indeed  wise  that  no 
word  of  this  was  breathed  in  the  viceregal  ears  of 
Mexico,"  said  Don  Diego  with  a  testiness  not  yet 
subdued  over  the  question  of  utter  damnation  for  the 
souls  unregenerate.  "Piety  would  carry  me  far  — 
but  no  warrant  is  mine  to  follow  even  the  Highest 
where  cannibals  do  wait  for  unholy  sustenance !  "  and 
he  arose  and  bowed  to  Don  Ruy. 

"  Oh  —  Name  of  the  Devil !  "  said  his  noble  ward, 
and  laughed  and  stretched  his  legs.  "  I  may  not  be 
so  unholy  as  your  words  would  suggest.  Give  not  a 
dog  a  bad  name  in  the  days  of  his  youth !  " 

And  at  this  the  scandalized  and  pious  dignitary 
multiplied  words  to  make  clear  how  far  from  such 
meaning  were  his  devoted  intentions.  But  if  wild 
tribes  must  be  fed  ere  their  souls  could  be  reached, — 
victims  could  be  found  other  than  the  heir  of  a 
duchess ! 

At  which  outburst'  Don  Ruy  suggested  that  he  save 
his  pious  breath  and  devote  it  to  prayers,  and  to  take 
some  of  his  own  medicine  by  remembrance  that  soul 
of  king  and  soul  of  peasant  weighed  the  same  before 
high  God. 

"  After  which  devout  exhortation  from  your  ser- 
vant, good  father,  we  again  give  ear  to  the  tale  of 
that  devil's  disciple  —  the  Greek  Teo,"  he  said, 
"  Did  they  find  him  in  the  sand?  And  did  the  merci- 
ful dame  hide  in  the  sand  also?  —  if  so  the  prison 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  93 


might  not  be  without  hope.  Holy  Saint  Damien !  — 
to  think  that  the  man  walked  these  same  stony  heights 
—  and  drank  from  that  pool !  " 

"  They  never  found  him  in  the  sand."  The  priest 
ignored  the  other  frivolous  comment.  "  They  never 
found  him  anywhere,  and  a  slave  from  the  Navahu 
people  was  made  a  sacrifice  in  his  stead.  The  strange 
girl  was  a  Te-hua  medicine  maid  or  magic  learner  of 
things  from  the  wise  men  of  Ah-ko.  Her  prayers 
were  very  many,  and  very  long,  and  she  made  a  shrine 
for  prayer  on  the  sand  beside  the  stone  wall  where  he 
was  hidden.  Their  men  set  watch  on  her,  she  knew 
it,  but  not  anything  did  they  find  but  a  girl  who  made 
her  prayers,  and  gave  no  heed  to  their  shadowings. 

"  When  were  ended  her  days  of  devotion  to  the 
false  gods  —  then  she  ate,  and  drank,  and  took  the 
way  to  her  own  people ;  with  moderate  pace  she  took 
that  trail  north,  but  when  night  came,  she  ran  like 
the  wild  thing  she  was,  again  to  the  south,  crept  un- 
seen again  into  this  fortress,  and  led  the  rescued  man 
as  far  to  the  west  as  might  be  until  the  dawn  came. 
With  the  coming  of  the  sun,  came  also  a  sand  storm 
of  great  stress,  and  all  trace  of  their  steps  were 
covered,  and  the  medicine  maid  saw  in  that  a  mystic 
meaning. 

"  To  Turk  and  Spaniard  the  refugee  might  be  only 
Teo  the  Greek,  a  fugitive  from  all  high  courts.  But 
to  the  Indian  he  was  a  lost  God  of  the  Great  Star  for 
whom  even  the  desert  winds  did  duty.  When  with 
moistened  yucca  root  he  rubbed  his  hands  that  the 
white  skin  showed,  she  bent  her  head  to  the  sand,  and 
was  his  slave  until    .    .    .    the  end !  " 

"It  moves  well,  and  beautifully  smooth:  —  this 
tale  of  the  outlaw,"  agreed  Don  Ruy  — "  but  it  is  that 
end  we  are  eager  for  —  and  the  how  it  was  compassed 


94        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


—  that  she  turned  slave  —  or  mistress  —  or  both  in 
one,  as  alas !  —  has  chanced  to  men  ere  our  day !  — 
was  the  doom  expected  from  the  earliest  mention  of 
the  pitiful  and  most  devout  lady  —  devout  to  her 
devils !    But  of  the  end  —  the  end?  " 

"  The  end  came  to  him  long  after  they  parted,  and 
for  one  winter  and  one  summer  were  their  wanderings 
to  the  west.  Of  the  Firebrand  river  deep  between 
rock  walls  he  had  heard,  and  of  the  ocean  far  beyond, 
and  of  Mexico  to  the  south.  To  reach  the  river  they 
crossed  dry  leagues  of  desert  and  lived  as  other  wild 
things  lived.  But  the  river  was  not  a  thing  for  boats 
or  journeys,  and  they  went  on  beyond  it  seeking  the 
sea.  Strange  things  and  strange  lives  they  passed  on 
the  way.  His  skin  had  been  stained  many  times  and 
his  beard  was  plucked  out  as  it  grew.  Enough  of 
Indian  words  he  learned  to  echo  her  own  tale  to  the 
brown  savages,  and  the  tale  was,  that  they  were 
medicine  people  of  Te-hua  in  the  land  of  Po-son-ge, 
and  that  they  travelled  to  the  shores  of  the  sea  for 
dances  and  prayers  to  the  gods  there.  And  some- 
times food  was  given  them  —  and  some  times  prayers 
were  sent  in  their  keeping.  Thus  was  their  journey, 
until  in  the  south,  in  the  heart  of  a  desert  they  found 
the  place  of  the  palms  where  the  fruit  was  ripe,  and 
the  water  comes  from  warm  springs,  and  looks  a 
paradise  —  but  is  as  a  hell  when  the  sand  storms 
come :  —  and  human  devils  live  to  the  South  and  by 
the  Sea  of  Cortez. 

"  They  knew  nothing  of  that,  it  was  a  place  for 
rest,  and  a  place  of  food,  and  they  rested  there  be- 
cause of  that,  and  gathered  food  for  the  further 
journey. 

11  All  medicine  people  of  the  tribes  carry  on  their 
neck  or  in  a  pouch  at  the  belt,  some  sacred  things  of 


he  Place  of  the  Palms 

Pane  94 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  J95 


their  magic  practices,  and  under  the  palms,  when 
other  amusment  was  not  to  be  found,  it  pleased  him 
to  see  what  his  brown  girl  carried  hidden  even  from 
her  master.  It  took  much  persuasions,  for  she  felt 
that  evil  would  happen  if  it  was  shown  except  it  be 
a  matter  of  ceremony.  Then  she  at  last  took  from 
the  pouch,  salt  from  a  sacred  lake,  feather  and  claw 
and  beak  of  a  yellow  bird,  a  blade  of  sharpest  flint, 
and  —  this!  " 

He  again  held  the  piece  of  gold  that  they  might 
see  it.  Even  the  Indians  leaned  forward  and  looked 
at  it  and  then  eyed  the  white  men  and  each  other  in 
silence.  To  them  it  was  "  medicine  "  as  the  priest 
told  the  adventurers  it  had  been  to  the  Te-hua  girl. 

"  Your  Greek  pirate  of  the  good  luck  went  close 
to  madness  at  the  certain  fact  that  for  months  he 
had  been  walking  steadily  away  from  the  place  where 
this  was  found.  To  the  girl  it  was  a  sacred  thing 
hidden  in  the  earth  of  her  land  by  the  sun  —  and  only 
to  be  used  for  ceremonies.  The  place  where  it  grew 
was  a  special  hidden  place  of  prayer  offering." 

"  Faith !  —  we  all  must  learn  prayers  enough  to 
get  our  share!  —  if  prayer  will  do  the  work!  "  said 
Don  Ruy. — "  Chico,  it  means  that  you  get  an 
Indian  primer, —  and  that  you  find  for  me  a  brown 
enchantress.  His  reverence  will  grant  us  all  a  special 
indulgence  for  hours  of  the  schooling!  " 

Senor  Don  Brancadori  sat  up  very  straight  and 
shook  his  head  at  the  priest :  —  so  well  assured  was 
he  that  enough  liberties  would  be  taken  without  the 
indulgences  of  holy  church.  Moreover  it  was  not 
well  to  put  the  deviltries  of  camp  in  the  mind  of  so 
good  a  lad  as  Chico. 

"  And  the  girl  gave  to  him  the  gold  and  told  him 
its  hiding  place?  "  he  asked. 


96        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  We  may  say  she  gave  it  —  thought  in  truth  she 
declared  it  could  not  be  given  —  it  could  only  be 
made  a  barter  of  for  other  medicine,  but  it  must  be 
strong  medicine.  The  blade  of  flint  was  to  guard 
her  magic  symbols  if  need  be,  and  the  man,  her  mas- 
ter, saw  in  that  moment  that  the  mind  he  had  to  deal 
with  in  this  matter  was  an  Indian  mind,  in  which  there 
i;s  not  reason.  And  to  find  a  "  medicine  "  potent  for 
charms  was  a  task  set  for  a  man  in  the  place  of  the 
palms.,, 

"  Then  a  forgotten  thing  came  into  his  mind.  It 
had  been  a  vow  made  to  an  enticing  creature  of  San 
Lucar.  She  was  also  devout  as  a  young  nun.  The 
vow  was  of  a  return  —  and  no  doubt  of  other  meet- 
ings. The  end  of  it  was  that  she  gave  him  a  rosary 
—  (his  first  captors  coveted  that  and  took  care  of  it) . 
But  also  they  ate  together  of  fruit,  and  as  both  ladies 
and  gallants  do  strange  things  at  strange  times,  the 
lady  divided  the  seeds,  and  counted  them  seeking  a 
lucky  number  or  some  such  freakish  quest.  And  by 
the  rosary,  and  by  his  mother,  she  made  him  swear 
that  when  he  had  found  fortune  and  a  plantation 
in  the  new  world,  he  would  plant  with  his  own  hands 
the  seeds  there,  and  send  for  the  lady  to  come  by  ship 
as  chatelaine!  Failing  the  plantation,  he  was  to  re- 
turn, and  her  own  relatives  would  find  on  land  or  sea 
an  office  fit  for  his  talents :  —  only  he  was  to  faith- 
fully guard  the  seed  of  the  friut  eaten  in  a  happy 
hour,  and  her  prayers  would  meet  his  own  across  the 
waters. 

"  It  may  be  that  women  with  prayers  for  him  had 
not  been  plentiful  —  whatever  the  vow  was  it  was 
made  and  sealed  with  the  prayer  of  the  lady.  When 
the  savages  took  her  rosary  they  gave  no  heed  to 
some  brown  seeds  in  a  leather  pouch  —  no  more  of 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  97 


them  than  you  could  count  on  your  fingers !  A  man 
alone  for  long  in  a  wilderness  gives  meaning  to  things 
he  would  not  remember  at  happier  times.  And  the 
training  of  the  Holy  Church  returns  to  even  the  most 
hardened  men  in  their  hours  of  stress!  So  it  was 
that  the  prayer  of  the  willing  dame  kept  him  com- 
pany, as  he  looked  on  the  seeds.  They  had  become 
his  rosary  —  and  were  the  last  evidence  of  the 
nightly  prayers  promised  by  the  lady. 

Thus :  —  because  of  their  smallness  had  they  been 
unnoted  of  his  several  captors.  Having  slipped  be- 
tween the  lining  and  the  cover  of  the  pouch  he  had 
ceased  to  remember  them  after  the  Indian  maid 
lessened  his  loneliness.  But  he  wrent  searching  for 
them  now  —  even  one  peach  seed  was  still  with  them 
—  and  some  grains  of  the  bearded  wheat  —  that  by 
a  special  grace  had  fallen  into  a  pocket  on  ship  board 
while  handling  grains,  and  as  a  jest  on  himself  he 
had  added  it  to  the  others  for  the  plantation  to  be 
made  for  the  waiting  dame. 

"  He  could  truly  say  they  were  "  medicine  "  given 
with  prayers.  But  with  forgetfulness  of  truth,  he 
also  added  much  as  to  their  divine  origin  —  and  the 
wondrous  power  they  held. 

"  Gladly  the  Indian  girl  let  go  the  gold  for  the 
unknown  seeds !  She  further  signified  that  now  she 
could  know  always  that  he  was  a  God,  for  the  gift  of 
the  seeds  fitted  some  myth  of  her  own  land  —  some 
thing  of  one  of  their  false  gods  who  brought  seeds 
and  fruits  and  great  good  to  the  people. 

"  In  that  way  was  made  the  exchange  of  medicine 
for  medicine  beside  some  pool  by  the  palms,  and 
well  it  was  it  was  made  that  day,  else  never  would 
we  have  this  golden  guide !  For :  —  it  fell  out  that 
a  day  later  as  he  was  hunting  to  the  south,  he  was 


98        THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


surrounded  and  taken  prisoner  by  the  savages  who 
range  by  the  inland  sea  of  California.  The  gold  had 
a  hole  as  you  see,  he  pulled  hair  from  his  head,  tied 
the  nugget  in  the  braid,  and  thus  hid  it  for  the  next 
two  years  of  his  life.  The  girl  he  never  again  heard 
of.    She  would  die  of  a  certainty  alone  in  the  desert. 

"  A  missionary  of  our  order  found  the  man  in  the 
wilderness.  They  were  exiles,  the  two  for  the  length 
of  a  winter,  and  the  Greek  listened  to  the  tales  of  the 
lost  fleet  on  which  Don  Teo  sought  the  new 
world,  and  also  of  the  royal  order  for  his  arrest  fol- 
lowing on  the  next  ship.  For  a  prisoner  of  Solyman 
the  Magnificent  had  escaped  from  the  galleys  of  the 
Turk,  and  wild  tales  were  told  of  princes  of  the  North 
who  gave  aid  to  the  traffic  in  Christian  slaves.  Don 
Teo  was  by  all  means  to  be  taken  back  to  Spain  that 
the  Holy  Office  learn  through  him  the  names  and 
numbers  of  the  offenders !  " 

"  Good  it  is  to  hear  that  the  varlet  was  not  let  sleep 
sound  all  the  night !  "  decided  Don  Ruy. 

"  It  appears  there  were  many  nights  when  sleep 
kept  from  him  —  to  judge  by  his  confessions !  "  said 
the  priest.  But  to  go  into  deeper  hell  while  he  was 
yet  alive  did  not  march  with  his  wishes,  and  while 
he  half  inclined  to  the  desert  again,  that  he  might 
die  quietly  there  as  any  other  starved  wild  thing  does 
die :  —  a  thing  came  which  he  had  not  thought :  — 
the  padre  died  of  a  serpent's  sting,  and  he,  Teo  the 
Greek,  was  alone,  and  apart  from  the  world  again ! 

"  It  was  the  gown  for  which  the  savages  had  rever- 
ence —  and  he  took  the  consecrated  robe  from  the 
dead  padre  and  wore  it  —  he  had  been  driven  by  mis- 
fortune back  to  Holy  Church ! 

"  He  lived  under  the  name  of  the  padre  as  a  priest 
in  holy  orders.    His  reports  to  his  superior  were  well 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  99 


counterfeited  as  the  writing  of  the  man  he  had  buried. 
He  held  that  mission  as  the  extreme  outpost  for  three 
years.  He  died  there  of  a  fever,  but  not  until  I  had 
found  him,  and  confessed  him.  The  gold  and  the 
tale  of  his  wanderings  he  gave  to  me.  Much  of  it 
he  told  me  more  than  once,  for  when  men  are  exiles 
as  he  was  for  those  several  years,  the  things  of  the 
old  life  loom  up  big  with  significance.  He  felt  that 
he  was  the  finder  of  the  way,  and  that  mayhaps, 
Mother  Church,  so  long  forgotten  by  him,  would  be 
the  richer  that  he  had  lived.  Masses  were  said 
for  the  girl  dead  in  the  desert.  She  had  saved  him, 
and  for  a  little  while  of  life  —  he  had  given  her 
love!" 

"  He  may  have  made  a  most  righteous  end  — 
since  it  was  no  longer  in  his  power  to  do  evil!  "  com- 
mented Don  Ruy  — "  But  your  pirate  priest  would 
never  have  let  go  the  nugget  for  masses  if  the  breath 
of  life  had  kept  him  company." 

"  Who  knows !  —  the  high  God  does  not  give  us 
to  see  in  the  heart  of  the  other  man,"  said  Padre 
Vicente  — "  In  the  years  of  his  trial  he  was  made  to 
feel  his  sins  against  Holy  Church  —  and  when  the 
girl  died  in  the  desert,  another  life  died  with  her. 
Even  men  of  sin  do  give  thought  to  such  matters." 

But  Juan  Gonzalvo  who  hated  him,  swore  at  the  ill 
luck  of  his  escape  by  death,  and  no  one  felt  any  pity 
for  that  first  white  pilgrim  across  the  Indian  lands. 
All  of  them  however  gave  speech  of  praise  to  the 
priest's  telling  of  the  story.  Don  Ruy  gave  him 
leave  to  tell  romances  in  future  rather  than  preach 
sermons. 

The  men  were  vastly  interested  to  learn  at  last  the 
exact  region  of  their  destination  —  and  that  the  prov- 
ince where  the  yellow  metal  had  been  hidden  by  the 


100      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


sun  was  but  a  matter  now  of  a  few  days  more  of  jour- 
neying—  since  the  people  of  Ah-ko  had  brother 
Queres  in  settlements  adjoining  the  settlements  of 
the  Te-huas. 

So,  seeing  that  the  guard  was  good,  and  that  each 
arquebus  was  near,  and  in  readiness  if  need  be  for 
dusky  visitors,  the  company  fell  asleep  well  content. 
Only  Don  Ruy  strolled  over  the  path  through  the 
sand  and  tried  to  fancy  how  the  girl  and  the  Greek 
had  managed  the  hiding  there.  A  little  of  the  story 
had  been  told  him  in  the  monastry  when  the  great 
plan  had  been  made,  but  no  names  were  given,  and 
the  telling  of  it  this  night  had  been  a  very  different 
matter  —  he  had  so  lately  crossed  the  desert  where 
those  two  refugees  had  wandered,  that  the  story  had 
now  a  life  unknown  before.  Even  the  sand  billows 
and  the  rock  walls  of  the  mesa  spoke  as  with  tongues. 
Ihe  mate  to  this  wonderful  Ah-ko  could  not,  he 
thought,  be  in  the  world  any  where,  and  the  romance 
of  the  young  priestess  and  the  Greek  adventurer  fitted 
the  place  well  and  he  felt  that  the  priest  of  the  wild 
places  had  chosen  rightly  in  keeping  the  story  until 
they  had  climbed  to  this  place  where  the  story  of  the 
gold  had  its  beginning. 

As  he  retraced  his  steps,  they  took  him  past  the 
sleeping  place  of  Jose  and  his  wife  of  Mexico.  Be- 
side them  was  spread  the  blankets  of  Chico,  but  the 
lad  was  not  there, —  he  was  standing  apart,  at  the 
edge  of  the  sheer  cliff,  looking  out  over  the  desert 
reaches  where  the  sand  was  blue  grey  in  the  star  light. 

"  Hollo !  " —  said  Don  Ruy  and  halted  in  surprise, 
"  do  you  select  sentry  duty  when  you  might  sleep 
soft  on  the  sand?  Must  I  send  you  another  blanket 
to  woo  you  to  a  bed?  " 

"  Your  Excellency  has  been  most  generous  in  the 


STORY  BY  THE  DESERT  WELL  101 


matter  of  the  blanket  —  one  has  been  enough  to  keep 
record  of  your  kindly  heart." 

"  Then  why  not  enjoy  your  sleep  as  a  hearty  lad 
should?  Has  this  place  of  wonder  bewitched  you  — 
or  has  the  story  of  the  Greek  and  the  gold  stirred 
you  into  ambitions  beyond  repose?" 

The  lad  might  have  retorted  by  reminding  Don 
Ruy  that  he  also  was  abroad  while  his  company  slept, 
—  usually  a  glib  pertness  would  have  answered  his 
employer,  but  the  answer  came  not  readily,  and  when 
it  did, —  his  excellency  saw  in  a  surprised  moment 
that  the  boy  was  not  such  a  child  as  the  careless  com- 
pany fancied  him. 

"I  have  thought  nothing  of  the  Greek  —  and 
little  of  the  gold,"  he  said.  "  But  the  woman  who 
followed  the  love  and  the  man  across  the  deserts  — 
and  who  died  alone  somewhere  in  the  sands  like  a 
starved  dog  —  of  her  I  was  thinking !  All  the  magic 
she  had  learned  could  not  save  her  from  hell  when 
that  one  man  came  in  her  path !  " 

"  But  —  you  are  only  a  lad  and  may  not  under- 
stand these  things," — said  Don  Ruy — "The  girl 
may  have  died  like  that,  it  is  true,  but  the  hell  in  the 
life  she  perhaps  never  got  glimpse  of, —  since  she 
loved  the  man !  " 

"  But  if  the  dead  do  know,  would  not  a  sort  of  hell 
be  hers  when  she  learned  she  had  given  the  magic 
medicine  of  her  God  for  the  idle  gift  —  bestowed 
by  another  mistress?" 

Then  the  lad  marched  to  his  blankets  and  wrapped 
himself  in  them,  leaving  Don  Ruy  the  question  to 
ponder. 


CHAPTER  IX 


YAHN,  THE  APACHE 


ROTHERS :  —  you  of  the  life 
—  Of  also  the  fire  divine! 


M  w  You  of  the  mountains 
Of  also  the  Mother  Mist! 
Out  of  the  mist  is  a  voice. 
It  is  not  the  voice  afraid! 
Out  of  the  shadows, 
Out  of  the  forests, 
Out  of  the  deserts 
It  is  born! 

In  a  good  hour  it  is  born. 

The  wind  of  the  Sun  sends  it  breath ! 

Brothers:  —  the  Dawn  drives  the  Darkness 

And  in  the  mountain  strong 

No  one  sings  fear! 

Out  from  far  worlds  it  comes, 

With  the  strong  Dawn  it  comes 

Brothers:  —  be  mountain  strong 

Sing  not  of  fear !  " 

The  rising  sun  tipped  the  terraces  with  gold  and 
rose,  and  the  nude  brown  men,  and  the  men  children, 
faced  the  east  with  hands  lifted  to  greet  the  coming 
of  the  Great  Power.  This  was  as  it  had  been  since 
the  time  of  most  ancient  days. 

But  the  song  chanted  from  the  terrace  by  the 
Woman  of  the  Twilight  was  a  new  song,  and  the  men 
made  their  prayers,  and  wondered  at  the  singer  sing- 
ing thus  on  the  roof  of  her  dwelling. 


102 


YAHN,  THE  APACHE  103 


The  dew  of  the  hills  was  on  her  clothing  and  on 
her  hair.  She  had  dreamed  a  dream  and  walked  in 
the  night  until  the  words  of  the  dream  had  come  to 
her  lips,  and  when  they  came  she  sang  them  aloud  and 
the  people  listened,  and  the  men  went  from  their 
prayers  and  thought  about  it. 

Many  were  conscious  of  secret  thoughts  of  dread 
at  the  coming  of  the  strangers.  The  priestess  had 
spoken  of  the  thing  no  one  had  given  voice  to. 

From  the  day  when  her  son  had  been  honored  as 
Po-Ahtun-ho,  the  strife  of  existence  seemed  ended 
for  Saa-hanh-que-ah.  The  thing  she  had  lived  to  see 
was  now  accomplished.  Her  days  were  now  the 
gray  days  of  rest  and  of  mystery.  She  made  many 
prayers  alone  in  the  hills,  and  forgot  to  eat. 

She  was  not  old,  yet  to  Tahn-te  she  said,  "  It  is 
over :  —  The  time  is  come  when  you  stand  alone  to 
be  strong.  Your  work  is  now  the  work  of  the  strong 
man,  and  I  go  to  make  prayers  in  the  hills." 

When  she  stayed  over  long,  he  sought  her  out  lest 
ill  should  come  to  her,  and  more  than  once  he  had 
walked  into  the  village  with  his  mother  in  his  arms 
as  other  people  carried  the  little  children.  It  was 
the  Woman  of  the  Twilight,  and  no  one  laughed. 
At  any  other  woman  they  would  have  laughed  to  see 
her  carried  in  the  arms  of  a  man. 

And  so,  when  she  stood  on  her  terrace  and  spoke 
of  the  voice  of  the  Dawn  and  the  Mountain  Mists, 
all  listened.  The  men  talked  of  it  in  the  kivas  of 
each  clan,  and  the  women  talked  all  together,  and 
were  glad.  They  did  not  know  quite  what  their  fear 
had  been,  but  it  was  no  longer  with  them  since  the 
woman  of  the  God  Thoughts  said  the  voices  sang 
no  fear. 

Only  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  on  the  terrace  opposite,  strung 


104      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


together  claws  of  birds  for  a  necklace,  and  scoffed 
warily. 

"  Only  if  you  are  mountain  strong  need  you  have 
no  fear,"  she  said.  "  The  promise  that  her  son  is 
maybe  the  Voice  and  the  Dawn  is  a  good  promise  — 
but  the  wise  woman  of  the  hill  caves  is  double  wise ! 
Her  song  has  double  thoughts.  Be  you  all  moun- 
tain strong,  as  gods  are  strong,  and  no  fear  will  come ! 
But  if  the  mountain  strength  waits  not  at  your  door 
—  what  then  happens?  " 

No  one  knew,  and  the  women  looked  at  each  other 
in  question.  The  peace  of  the  wise  woman's 
words  was  killed  by  the  bitter  laugh  of  Apache 
Yahn. 

When  the  bitter  mood  touched  the  girl,  the  Te-hua 
people  remembered  that  her  mother  was  of  that  wild 
Apache  people  —  enemy  to  all.  At  times  she  could 
be  a  maid  like  other  maids  —  with  charm  and 
laughter  —  a  very  bewitching  Yahn  who  made  her- 
self a  beauty  barbaric  with  strings  of  gay  berries  of 
the  rose,  or  flat  girdles  of  feathers  dyed  like  the  rain- 
bow. Her  bare  arms  had  bracelets  of  little  shells. 
Into  the  weaving  of  her  garments  she  had  put  threads 
of  crimson  in  strange  patterns  —  they  were  often  the 
symbols  of  the  Apache  gods  or  spirit  people,  and 
when  she  chose  she  made  the  other  women  feel  fear 
with  them.  Her  own  mother  who  told  her  of  them, 
would  not  have  worn  them  thus — but  Yahn  was 
more  Apache  than  her  mother. 

One  woman  shelling  corn  for  the  meal,  suggested 
that  if  the  Te-hua  people  had  not  mountain  strength 
it  might  mean  war  as  the  people  to  the  South  had 
endured  that  other  time  —  when  the  men  at  Tiguex 
were  burned  to  ashes  by  the  strangers. 

"  Oh,  wise  Sah-pah !  "  and  Yahn  laughed  at  the 


YAHN,  THE  APACHE  105 


late  thought, — "  Has  the  thing  at  last  come  to  the 
mind  of  one  of  you  ?  " 

"  I  thought  of  it  also,"  said  one  of  the  other 
women  sulkily. 

"  Ai :  —  you  all  thought  —  but  none  of  you  dared 
say  words  while  the  new  Ruler  and  the  wise  governor 
kept  silent  to  the  people !  "  she  taunted  them.  "  Of 
all  the  women  I  only  can  speak  in  the  speech  of  the 
strangers." 

"Think  you  we  will  see  them?"  asked  one  girl 
doubtfully  — "  will  we  not  all  be  sent  to  the  hills  the 
days  when  they  come?" 

"  In  other  villages  they  did  so  in  that  long  ago 
day  —  some  men  never  let  their  women  be  seen  of 
the  white  men  who  wore  the  iron." 

"  I  will  not  be  sent  to  the  hills,"  decided  Yahn. 
"  From  Ke-yemo  and  from  Tahn-te  I  know  their 
words.  I  will  talk  for  the  strangers.  I  will  learn 
many  things !  " 

"When  was  it  you  learn  so  much?"  asked  Sah- 
pah  jealously. 

"A  little  —  little  at  a  time  all  these  years!  "  de- 
clared Yahn  in  triumph.  "  Tahn-te  wanted  not  to 
forget  it  —  so  he  said  to  me  the  words  —  now  they 
are  mine." 

The  women  regarded  her  with  a  wonder  that  was 
almost  awe, —  there  might  be  something  infernal  and 
unlucky  in  talking  two  ways. 

"  If  it  be  war,  think  you  Ka-yemo  will  be  the  war 
chief  as  he  has  been  made?"  queried  Sah-pah. 
"  He  will  be  made  second  if  there  is  fighting, —  think 
you  not  so?  " 

Yahn  apparently  did  not  think,  but  she  did  listen. 

"  We  know  how  it  was  with  his  father  Awh-we  — " 
said  one.    "  In  that  day  of  trial  he  failed  that  once 


106      iTHE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


in  the  battle  with  the  Yutah.  The  old  men  let  him 
pull  weeds  in  the  corn  when  the  next  war  came." 

The  strong  lingers  of  Yahn  broke  the  bird's  claw, 
and  she  tossed  it  from  the  terrace  edge,  and  selected 
another. 

"  But  the  new  young  wife  Koh-pe  may  make  the 
son  of  his  father  brave  for  all  that,"  and  Sah-pah 
who  was  not  young  and  not  winsome,  watched  Yahn, 
and  felt  content  when  she  saw  the  Apache  eyes  grow 
narrow  and  the  teeth  set.  "  A  wife  with  many  robes 
and  many  strings  of  shells  and  blue  stones,  makes  a 
man  strong  to  fight  for  them.  Ka-yemo  will  be  a 
strong  man  now." 

"  He  is  of  my  clan  —  Ka-yemo !  "  said  Yahn  pant- 
ing with  pent  up  fury,  "  he  can  fight, —  all  of  our 
blood  can  fight !  —  if  the  war  is  here  we  can  show  you 
of  the  Panyoo  clan  how  the  Tain-tsain  clan  can  fight 
with  the  new  enemy !  " 

They  all  knew  that  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  could  indeed 
fight,  she  wore  eagle  feathers  and  had  a  right  to  wear 
them  since  a  season  of  the  hunt  on  the  Navahu  border 
when  a  young  warrior  had  stolen  her  for  his  lodge, 
and  with  his  own  club  set  with  flint  blades,  had  she 
let  his  spirit  go  on  the  shadow  trail,  and  to  her  own 
village  had  she  brought  the  scalp  and  the  club,  also 
his  robe  and  beads  of  blue  and  of  green  stone  —  and 
she  made  the  other  women  remember  it  at  times. 

"  Ho !  —  and  will  it  be  you  who  bears  a  spear  and 
a  shield  and  a  club  on  that  day?  "  asked  Sah-pah  the 
skeptic. 

"  I  fight  that  day  —  or  any  day,  as  strong  as  the 
fight  any  man  of  yours  can  ever  make !  "  This  re- 
tort of  Yahn  was  met  with  half  frightened  giggles  by 
the  other  women.  Sah-pah  had  been  unlucky  in  the 
matter  of  men.    Yet,  her  list  of  favorites  had  not 


YAHN,  THE  APACHE  107 


been  limited,  and  the  sarcasm  of  Yahn  was  under- 
stood. 

"  It  is  good  there  is  some  one  brave  to  meet  the 
strangers !  "  and  the  smile  of  Sah-pah  was  not  nice. 
"  Maybe  you  go  to  ask  for  a  man  —  maybe  it  is  why 
you  learn  their  words  —  maybe  the  Tain-tsain  clan 
will  ask  for  a  white  man  for  you !  " 

"  When  /  ask  —  I  will  not  be  made  a  laugh,  and 
sent  home  with  a  gift," — and  the  other  women 
squealed  with  shrill  laughter  and  had  great  joy  over 
the  quarrel.  The  eyes  of  Sah-pah  blazed.  She 
tried  to  speak  but  her  fury  gave  voice  only  in  throaty 
growls,  and  an  older  woman  than  all  of  them  stepped 
between  them  in  protest. 

"  To  your  own  houses  —  all  you  who  would 
fight !  "  she  decided  — "  go  fight  your  own  men  if 
they  send  you  away  with  gifts,  but  by  my  door  I  do 
not  want  panthers  who  scream !  " 

Sah-pah  sulkily  obeyed,  and  Yahn  laughed  and 
continued  her  work. 

"  It  is  not  good  to  laugh  when  the  bad  fortune 
comes  to  any  one,"  said  the  old  woman,  but  Yahn 
refused  to  be  subdued. 

"  It  is  true,  mother — "  she  insisted — (all  elderly 
women  are  mothers  or  aunts  to  village  folk)  —  it  is 
true.  When  the  dance  of  the  corn  was  here  and  the 
women  made  choice  of  their  favorites  —  it  is  well 
known  that  Sah-pah  did  follow  Phen-tza  a  long  ways. 
He  laughed  at  her."  Yahn  herself  laughed  as  she 
told  it, — "  he  laughed  and  he  asked  why  she  comes 
so  far  alone  —  and  he  gives  her  his  blanket  and  goes 
away!  That  is  how  he  takes  her  for  favorite  that 
day !  —  he  only  laughs  and  let  go  his  blanket  to  Sah- 
pah!" 

The  old  woman  put  up  her  hand  that  her  laugh 


108      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


be  not  heard.  The  humor  of  primitive  people  is 
not  a  delicate  thing,  and  that  the  blandishments  of 
Sah-pah  had  been  of  no  use  —  as  was  witness  the 
blanket !  —  had  made  many  laugh  around  the  night 
fires.  Yet  the  old  "  mother  "  thought  it  not  good 
that  quarrels  should  grow  out  of  it. 

"  Is  your  heart  so  bright  with  happiness  that  you 
understand  nothing  of  the  shame  another  woman  may 
know,  Yahn  Tsyn-deh?" — she  asked  seriously. 
"  Sah-pah  is  of  the  free  woman  —  and  we  are  not 
of  her  clan  to  make  judgement." 

"  Speak  no  words  to  me  of  a  bright  heart  I"  said 
Yahn,  and  arose,  and  went  away.  Across  the  roofs 
she  went  to  the  stairway  of  her  dwelling,  where  she 
had  lived  alone  since  the  death  of  her  mother.  It 
was  a  good  room  she  entered,  very  white  on  the  walls, 
and  the  floor  white  also,  with  the  works  of  her  own 
fingers  on  the  smoothness  of  it.  In  a  niche  of  the 
thick  wall  stood  a  bronze  god,  and  a  medicine  bowl 
with  serrated  edges,  and  a  serpent  winged  and 
crowned  painted  in  fine  lines  to  encircle  it.  On  the 
wall  was  a  deerskin  of  intricate  ornamentation,  good 
and  soft  in  the  dressing,  it  was  painted  in  many 
symbols  of  the  Apache  gods  and  the  prayer  thoughts. 
From  her  mother  Yahn  had  learned  them  and  had 
painted  them  in  ceremonial  colors.  The  great  god- 
dess of  the  white  shell  things  —  and  white  flowers 
—  and  white  clouds  —  was  there,  and  the  sun  god 
was  also  there,  and  the  curve  of  the  moon  with  the 
germ  of  life  in  its  heart.  The  morning  star  was 
there  —  and  also  the  symbol  of  the  messengers  from 
the  gods.  Circling  all  these  sacred  things  was  the 
blue  zig-zag  of  the  sky  lightening  by  which  Those 
Above  send  their  decrees  to  earth  children  who  know 


) 


I 


w      •  A 


he  Prayer  of  Yahn  Tsyn-deh 

Paee  109 


YAHN,  THE  APACHE  109 


the  signs,  and  at  each  corner  the  symbols  of  the  Spirit 
People  were  on  guard. 

Sah-pah  had  said  once  that  they  might  be  devil 
things,  and  not  god  things,  and  Yahn  had  watched 
her  chance,  and  emptied  a  jar  of  dirty  water  on  her 
head  for  that,  and  no  more  women  said  things  of  the 
walls  of  Yahn  Tsyn-deh's  house.  But  whether  she 
deemed  them  holy  or  not  holy,  she  hung  the  necklace 
of  birds'  claws  under  the  symbol  of  the  Goddess 
Stenaht-lihan,  and  then  prostrated  herself  and  lay  in 
silence. 

After  a  long  time  she  spoke. 

"  All  this  that  the  Apache  blood  be  not  lost  in  the 
flood  of  a  shame!  All  this  that  no  Te-hua  woman 
ever  again  sees  that  my  heart  has  been  sick  —  all  this 
that  a  double  curse  of  — " 

But  in  the  midst  of  her  words  of  whispered  prayer 
speech  failed  her  —  and  tears  choked  her  until  she 
sobbed  for  breath.  With  all  her  will  she  wished  to 
curse  some  onei  whom  all  her  woman's  heart  forbade 
her  harm! 


CHAPTER  X 


SHRINES  OF  THE  SACRED  PLACES 

WHEN  new  things  cast  shadows  across  the 
Indian  mind,  every  cloud  touching  the 
moon  is  watched  at  its  birth  and  at  its  first 
hours  of  the  circle,  also  the  stars.  And  for  those 
other  worlds, —  the  planets  —  is  it  their  brother- 
hood to  the  earth  that  is  sealed  by  a  living  sacrifice 
as  they  come  and  as  they  pass  again  from  the  visible 
path  in  the  sky? 

The  Reader  of  the  Stars  lives  often  above  the  mists 
of  the  earth  dews.  The  door  of  the  high  priest  Po- 
Ahtun-ho  faces  the  way  of  the  South  that  the  shad- 
ows of  the  moon  and  the  shadows  also  of  the  sun, 
make  reckonings  for  him  of  that  which  must  be 
noted.    So  it  has  been  since  ancient  days. 

But  for  the  Reader  of  the  Stars  there  is  a  door  not 
like  another  door;  even  to  the  stranger  who  runs  as 
in  a  race,  the  house  of  the  stars  is  seen  and  noted, 
and  known  as  the  sacred  place  for  high  prayer,  and 
the  record  of  the  God  things. 

In  Pu-ye  the  Ancient  —  and  the  deserted  through 
centuries,  the  dwellings  of  high  priests  are  marked 
beyond  shadow  of  doubt,  and  each  Te-hua  man 
knows  as  well  the  dwelling  of  the  Ruler  of  five  cen- 
turies ago  in  Pu-ye,  as  he  knows  the  door  of  his  own 
brother  across  the  court  of  the  village.  And  the 
door  of  the  stars  is  still  beautiful  there  in  Pu-ye. 

Day  time  or  night  time  the  lines  of  ancient  dwell- 
ings look  ghost-like  in  their  whiteness.    Only  medi- 

110 


SHRINES  OF  SACRED  PLACES  111 


cine  men  with  prayer  rites  ever  sit  alone  in  the 
deserted  rooms.  The  men  from  the  river  villages  on 
the  way  for  the  pine  of  the  hills  used  in  their  sacred 
dances,  do  halt  to  scatter  prayer  meal  at  sacred  places 
where  the  water  once  ran :  —  there  is  ever  the  hope 
that  if  prayers  enough  are  thought,  the  springs  in  the 
Mother  Mountain  may  make  fertile  again  the  fields 
of  the  high  levels, —  for  in  the  days  of  the  carving 
of  Pu-ye  from  the  white  cliffs  there  were  certainly 
many  streams  and  wide  harvests  in  the  land  that  is 
called  now  the  desert  lands. 

And  to  the  west  is  Tse-come-u-pin,  the  sacred 
mountain  where  the  lightning  plays,  and  westward 
also,  but  not  so  far,  is  the  Cave  of  the  Hunters  where 
prayers  are  made  to  the  Trues  —  the  guardian  spirits 
of  the  Sacred  Ways,  and  the  wild  things  of  the  forest, 
symbolizing  sacred  ways  and  sacred  colors.  These 
places  of  prayer  and  of  sacrifices  are  here  to-day  — 
and  the  way  to  them  is  marked  by  the  symbols  of  stars 
and  of  planets  —  many  eyes  see  them  —  but  the  read- 
ers of  them  are  not  so  many  to-day.  A  Te-hua  man 
will  tell  you  they  are  the  forgotten  records  of  the  Lost 
Others  —  and  will  sprinkle  prayer  meal  craftily  to 
make  amends  for  the  truth  which  is  half  a  lie.  The 
unspoken  pagan  gods  of  the  Lost  Others  have  endless 
life,  and  eternal  youth,  in  the  land. 

All  is  as  it  was  in  the  ancient  day,  except  that  the 
dwellings  have  changed  from  the  ancient  places,  and 
the  priests  go  over  more  ground  to  reach  the  high 
places  of  prayer. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Po-son-ge  many  vigils  were 
kept  through  the  nights  of  the  Springtime,  as  mes- 
sages from  the  south  brought  word  of  the  steady, 
and  thus  far,  harmless  advance  of  the  white  strangers. 
The  treachery  at  Tiguex  in  the  day  of  Coronado  was 


112      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


a  keen  memory.  It  would  take  much  wisdom  to 
avoid  war  with  the  iron  men  of  the  white  god,  yet 
keep  their  own  wives  and  daughters  for  their  own 
tribe. 

Many  arrows  were  made  —  also  spears  and 
shields.  Men  went  hunting  and  women  dried  the 
meat,  pounding  it  into  shreds  for  the  war  trail  if  need 
be.  From  earliest  dawn  were  heard  the  grinding 
songs  as  the  corn  of  yellow  and  blue  and  red  and 
white  was  ground  by  the  maidens  keeping  time  to  the 
ancient  carols  —  and  ever  above  the  head  of  the 
worker  was  hung  the  sacred  and  unhusked  ear,  which, 
when  resting,  she  contemplated,  kneeling,  and  the 
thought  in  her  heart  must  be  the  sacredness  of  the 
life-giving  grain,  and  the  prayer  of  thanks  that  it 
was  given  by  the  gods  to  the  people. 

Tahn-te,  going  from  the  river  bath  of  the  dawn, 
crossed  the  terrace  of  Yahn  Tsyn-deh,  and  caught 
brief  glance  of  her  face  thus  lifted  above  the  grind- 
ing stone.  The  steadiness  of  the  quiet  prayer  was 
contrast  decided,  compared  with  the  last  wild  prayer 
she  had  come  to  make  at  his  feet :  —  begging  for 
magic  of  any  nature  since  the  laws  of  the  clans  for- 
bade that  she  be  wife  to  her  cousin  to  whom  she  had 
given  love. 

Almost  he  halted,  moved  in  his  mind  to  speak  to 
the  girl  who  had  been  more  of  comrade  than  had  any 
other  woman.  But  he  remembered  the  evil  prayer 
she  had  spoken  that  day,  and  this  was  not  a  time 
to  give  to  thought  of  her  anger.  It  was  bad  to  have 
the  evil  wish  of  a  woman,  but  to  the  other  man  must 
go  the  cares  of  the  village  loves  and  hates.  All 
things  had  worked  together  to  make  him  the  wearer 
of  the  white  robe  —  to  place  him  outside  the  lines  of 
village  joys  or  sorrows, —  his  every  demand  was  for 


AHN  AT  THE  GRINDING  STONE 

Page  112 


SHRINES  OF  SACRED  PLACES  113 


vision  of  the  strongly  felt,  yet  unseen  powers.  Was 
he  the  son  of  a  god?  —  as  in  the  heart  of  him  he  still 
thought :  —  then  to  him  belonged  the  fasting  and  the 
prayer  of  tribal  penance,  and  the  loves  and  the  hates 
of  the  children  of  Te-hua  were  luxuries  not  for  him. 
He  was  enemy  to  no  man  —  and  he  could  be  lover  to 
no  woman ! 

The  old  men  of  his  own  orders  had  taught  him 
much  of  the  strength  of  magic  which  comes  only  to 
the  priest  who  seeks  no  earthly  mate.  But  the  ten 
years  of  study  of  the  white  man's  magic  as  spoken 
in  their  books  of  their  gods,  had  taught  him  more. 
He  had  been  witness  that  their  gods  were  strong  for 
war,  and  for  worldly  power.  His  people  had  need 
of  all  that  power  if  the  strangers  came  again  and 
again  like  this  into  the  country  of  the  Po-son-ge. 

The  picture  of  Yahn,  kneeling  by  the  fireplace  on 
the  terrace,  her  eyes  lifted  to  the  sacred  corn,  brought 
quickly  to  him  the  memory  of  a  more  childish  Yahn 
who  was  not  unhappy  even  in  her  wars. 

And  now  —  through  the  madness,  which  he  was 
warned  came  to  all  men  —  now  she  was  a  woman 
through  that  madness :  —  and  a  forsaken  woman 
whom  all  Te-hua  watched  for  the  revenge  she  would 
take. 

They  knew  Ka-yemo  could  not  marry  with  the 
daughter  of  his  uncle,  but  they  knew  also  that  he 
could  not  be  driven  into  taking  the  daughter  of  an- 
other man  as  wife, —  and  Yahn  knew  this  also. 
Many  robes,  and  blue  jewels  had  weighed  down  the 
love  of  a  boyhood ! 

Tahn-te  thought  of  this,  and  of  the  girl,  as  he 
passed  through  the  village  to  his  own  dwelling. 
Other  maids  greeted  him,  and  followed  him  with 
kindly  eyes.    By  all  women  Tahn-te  was  told  in 


114      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


many  ways  that  the  wearer  of  the  white  robe  need  not 
live  in  a  lonely  house ! 

Yet  he  was  not  lonely,  and  when  the  marvels  of 
the  inviting  eyes  turned  towards  him,  he  was  always 
conscious  of  an  ideal  presence  as  if  the  god-maid  of 
the  mesa  had  stepped  between,  and  made  harmless 
the  sorcery  of  the  village  daughters  by  which  he 
might  otherwise  have  been  enveloped. 

Once,  when  he  had  confessed  as  much  to  the 
ancient  Ruler  who  had  been  his  guide  and  guardian, 
the  old  man  had  voiced  approval  and  interpreted 
clearly  for  him  the  dream  presence  which  was  as  a 
gift  of  the  gods,  and  clearly  marked  him  for  other 
loves  than  that  of  an  earth  maid. 

"  But  —  if  the  dreams  came  like  a  maid  also  — 
but  a  maid  so  fine  that  it  was  as  a  star —  or  a  flower 
—  or  a  prayer  made  human  —  then  — " 

"  It  is  like  that?  "  asked  the  old  man,  and  the  boy 
answered : 

"  Sometimes  it  seems  like  that —  but  not  when  I 
awake.  Only  in  my  sleep  does  she  come  close,  yet 
that  dream  has  kept  guard  for  me  many  days  until 
the  others  laugh  and  say  I  have  no  eyes  to  see  a 
woman,  I  do  see  —  but  — " 

"  That  is  well  —  it  is  best  of  all !  "  said  Ka-ye-fah, 
the  Ruler.  "  If  my  own  child  had  come  back  to  me 
I  might  not  have  said  it  is  well.  My  heart  would 
have  wanted  to  see  your  children  and  the  children  of 
Ka-ye-povi  —  I  dreamed  of  that  through  many  har- 
vests —  but  it  is  over  now.  She  did  not  live.  The 
trader  of  robes  from  the  Yu-tah  brought  that  word, 
and  it  is  better  that  way.  I  was  dying  because  my 
daughter  would  be  slave  to  Navahu  men  —  and  when 
word  comes  that  she  died  as  a  little  child,  then  the 
sun  is  shining  for  me  again,  and  I  live  again.  But 


SHRINES  OF  SACRED  PLACES  115 


always  when  I  think  that  the  little  child  could  be  a 
woman,  then  it  is  good  to  think  that  your  children 
could  be  her  children.  Since  it  is  so  —  so  let  it  be ! 
The  dream  maid  of  the  spirit  flower,  and  of  the  star, 
can  be  my  Ka-ye-povi,  and  you  will  have  the  mate 
no  other  earth  eyes  can  ever  see,  and  your  nights  and 
your  days  will  not  be  lonely.  Also  it  will  be  that 
your  prayers  be  double  strong." 

From  that  day  of  talk,  the  dream  maid  of  Tahn-te 
had  been  a  more  tangible  presence  —  never  a  woman 
—  never  quite  that,  but  in  the  smile  of  certain  chil- 
dren he  caught  swift  glimpse  of  her  face  and  then 
music  rang  in  the  rustle  of  the  corn  or  the  rush  of  the 
river.  When  the  dream  vision  was  beyond  all  measure 
sweet,  he  was  certain  of  the  wisdom  of  the  Ancient  — 
for  the  dream  and  the  thoughts  of  prayer  were  double 
strong. 

They  were  double  strong  that  morning  as  he  came 
from  the  river  bath,  and  the  face  of  Yahn  —  and  the 
thought  of  her  love  —  brought  strangely  that  dream 
face  to  him  in  which  there  was  no  madness  such  as  the 
Apache  had  shown  him  when  at  his  feet  in  prayer. 

The  tombe  sounded  softly  from  a  far  terrace  where 
special  prayer  was  being  made  for  the  growing  things, 
gray  doves  fluttered  home  with  food  to  their  young, 
and  little  brown  children  —  not  so  much  clothed  as  the 
birds !  —  climbed  ladders  to  look  in  the  dove  cotes  on 
his  roof,  and  see  the  nurslings  there  lift  clamoring 
mouths  for  worms  or  other  treasure. 

A  woman  weaving  a  blanket  of  twisted  skins  of 
rabbits  worked  in  the  open  with  her  primitive  loom  in 
an  arbor  before  her  door,  beside  her  a  man  whirled  a 
distaff  and  spun  the  coarse  hemp  of  which  the  warp 
was  made.  Maids  and  mothers  with  water  jars  on 
their  heads  walked  in  stately  file  from  a  spring  near 


116      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  river's  edge  —  and  above  all  the  serene  accus- 
tomed life  of  that  Indian  village,  could  be  heard  the 
drone  of  the  grinding  songs  —  in  the  valley  of  Po- 
son-ge  there  was  ever  corn  for  the  grinding,  and  the 
time  of  hunger  had  come  not  often  to  Povi-whah. 

Tahn-te  felt  a  certain  consciousness  of  the  great  con- 
tent to  which  the  grinding  songs  and  the  steady  beat  of 
the  prayer  drum  made  music.  He  knew  better  than 
the  others,  the  worth  of  that  peace,  and  quiet  plenty, 
for  to  the  south  he  had  seen  hunger  stalk  in  the  trail 
of  the  white  conquerors,  and  no  woman  weaving  a 
robe  could  be  sure  that  it  would  ever  keep  her  children 
from  the  cold.  The  men  of  iron  had  entered  doors 
as  they  chose  and  carried  thence  all  manner  of  things 
pleasing  to  their  fancy. 

But  the  life  of  Povi-whah  was  a  different  life,  and 
Tahn-te  was  glad  often  to  know  that  it  was  his  land. 
The  great  medicine  Mesa  of  the  Hearts  stood  like  a 
guardian  straight  to  the  east  and  at  morning  its 
shadow  touched  the  terraces. 

Strange  mystic  rites  belonged  to  that  place  where 
the  Ancient  Others  had  made  high  sacrifice.  Great 
medicine  was  there  for  the  healing  of  all  the  nations 
—  and  the  secret  of  it  was  with  the  gods.  He  was 
glad  as  he  looked  at  it  that  it  was  so  close  to  his  own 
people  —  if  a  day  of  need  should  come  they  would 
have  the  sacred  place  more  close  than  any  other 
people. 

As  he  breathed  a  prayer  and  walked  to  his  own 
door  he  met  Po-tzah  who  was  the  Feeder  of  the  Wind 
that  fanned  the  Wheat.  He  was  the  first  boy  friend 
of  Tahn-te  in  the  valley  and  always  their  regard  had 
been  kind. 

"  This  is  a  time  of  much  striving  and  I  am  glad  to 


SHRINES  OF  SACRED  PLACES  117 


see  you,  and  see  you  here  at  my  door,"  said  Tahn-te 
the  Ruler.  "  You  come  from  the  ceremonial  bath 
after  a  night  of  prayer.  I  go  from  the  bath  for  the 
making  of  many  days  and  many  nights  of  prayer.  If 
my  mother  should  return  before  I  come  down  from 
the  mountains — " 

"  She  will  be  in  the  house  of  my  wife,  and  she  will 
be  as  our  mother,"  said  Po-tzah  his  friend  and  clans- 
man. 

"  Thanks  that  it  is  so  in  your  heart,"  and  Tahn-te 
took  the  hand  of  his  friend  and  breathed  upon  it. 
"  My  mother  must  not  hear  much  talk  of  any  trouble 
to  come.  If  she  thought  there  was  danger  she  would 
not  go  from  me,  and  in  council  it  is  decided  that  when 
the  men  of  iron  come  into  the  valley,  the  young  wives 
and  the  little  maids  must  live  for  a  season  in  the  ruins 
of  the  wide  fields  of  old,  and  my  mother  —  the 
4  Woman  of  the  Twilight '  is  to  be  the  keeper  of  them 
there,  and  they  must  not  be  seen  of  the  strangers." 

"  They  take  many  wives  —  if  they  find  them  — 
and  are  strongest?"  asked  Po-tzah  thinking  of  his 
own  wife  of  a  year,  and  the  little  brown  babe  in  its 
cradle  of  willow  wands  swung  from  the  ceiling  of  their 
home.    Tahn-te  smiled  mockingly. 

"  Their  priest  will  tell  you  they  take  but  one.  But 
their  book  where  their  god  speaks,  gives  to  all  his 
favorites  many  wives,  and  helps  his  favorites  to  get 
them  with  fighting  and  much  cunning,  and  in  the  days 
when  I  was  with  the  christian  men  who  said  prayers 
to  that  god,  I  saw  them  always  live  as  the  book  said 
—  and  not  as  Padre  Luis  said.  That  man  was  a  good 
man  —  a  better  man  than  his  book  —  He  was  good 
enough  to  be  Indian  —  for  that  is  what  the  Castilians 
call  us  —  and  all  our  brother  tribes." 


118      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  They  call  us  the  same  as  the  Apache  or  the  Hopi 
people?  "  asked  Po-tzah  in  wonder.  "  Why  do  they 
that?" 

"  The  Ancient  Father  in  the  Sky  has  not  wished 
them  to  know  who  we  are.  He  has  darkened  their 
minds  when  they  tried  to  see.  They  are  very  proud  — 
that  people !  All  they  saw  that  was  good  in  the  vil- 
lages, they  argued  long  about  They  are  sure  that 
some  of  their  tribe  in  some  older  day  did  find  our 
fathers  and  teach  our  people, —  in  what  other  way 
could  we  know  to  spin  and  weave,  and  live  in  good 
houses !  " 

The  Priest  of  the  prayers  to  the  mighty  Wind  of 
the  Four  Ways  laughed  at  the  very  curious  ideas  of 
the  white  strangers. 

"  Perhaps  they  taught  our  fathers  also  to  eat  when 
they  were  hungered  and  take  wives  when  the  time 
came !  "  he  scoffed. 

While  they  spoke,  Ka-yemo  crossed  a  terrace  and 
halted  to  look  at  them,  and  Po-tzah  commented  on 
the  fine  beads  now  worn  by  Ka-yemo  since  he 
had  taken  a  wife  —  but  Po-tzah  thought  the  wife  very 
ugly  and  very  stupid,  and  he  would  rather  see  his  own 
wife  even  if  her  father  had  been  a  cripple  and  a  poor 
man, —  and  the  girl  have  never  a  garment  but  a  poor 
one  of  her  own  making. 

"  Ka-yemo  is  the  most  beautiful  man  in  the  vil- 
lage," said  Tahn-te, — "  He  has  fine  looks  plenty  for 
one  house." 

"  Tahn-te  " —  and  his  friend  came  more  close  and 
spoke  softly,  "  you  are  Po-Ahtun-ho,  and  you  know 
wise  things  and  many  things.  Do  you  know  enough 
to  care  nothing  that  Ka-yemo  and  his  friends  are  not 
your  friends?  " 


A-YEMO 

Page  118 


SHRINES  OF  SACRED  PLACES  119 


"  Why  is  it  that  you  think  in  such  a  way?  "  asked 
Tahn-te  quietly. 

"  He  knows  the  white  strangers  will  deal  with  one 
man  of  the  tribe  if  they  come, —  and  that  will  be 
honor  for  that  man.  He  knows  the  words  of  the 
strangers.  If  you  were  not  the  most  wise  he  would 
be  chosen  to  make  all  talks,  and  he  would  be  a  great 
man.  Not  much  has  he  said;  —  but  his  friends  say 
things!  Already  they  ask  what  magic  touched  the 
old  men  when  you  were  made  ruler.  They  say  the 
Po-Ahtun-ho  for  all  time  was  born  in  the  place  where 
he  says  prayers." 

"  And  I  was  not  born  in  this  place,"  said  Tahn-te, 
as  he  looked  at  the  river  valley,  and  remembered  the 
desert  sands  of  Tusayan,  and  the  island  of  rock  on 
which  he  had  lived  and  been  happy  once.  "  It  is  true, 
Po-tzah.  But  the  people  forget  when  they  say  no 
other  Ruler  was  born  apart  from  his  people.  Po-se- 
yemo  came  from  a  cave  in  the  cliff.  He  came  down 
from  the  mountain  to  the  people.  He  taught  them 
to  listen  to  mountain  thoughts.  I  come  from  a  rock 
in  the  desert,  and  the  old  men  say  I  brought  the  Sign 
that  the  god  made  my  way.  We  are  yet  young,  Po- 
tzah,  when  we  are  older  we  will  know  whether  the 
way  of  the  gods  is  the  way  for  this  people.  I  know 
the  words  of  Ka-yemo  —  but  they  are  not  to  be  talked 
of.  Alone  I  go  to  face  the  Ancient  Father  —  Sinde- 
hesi.  I  go  to  the  mountain  of  the  Stone  Face  —  I 
go  to  dance  the  dance  for  ancient  wisdom.  The  old 
men  know  that  the  time  has  come  for  that." 

"Alone?  No  one  in  our  day  has  danced  alone 
before  the  faces!  No  one  has  danced  in  that  place 
since  the  time  of  the  fire  across  the  sky,  and  that 
dancer  did  not  live.  You  can  dance  there  — 
Tahn-te?" 


120    THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  I  can  dance  there  —  By  the  arrow  I  have  said  it." 

His  friend  looked  at  him  with  a  strange  new  re- 
gard. Each  knew  what  it  meant  to  be  chosen  for  that 
dance  of  the  ancient  days. 

>  There  are  two  things  a  man  may  not  do  and  have 
breath  to  live.  The  sacred  arrow  is  held  aloft  when 
an  oath  is  made.  If  the  thing  which  he  has  told  is  a 
false  thing  the  Sun  Father  gives  lightening  to  the 
arrow,  and  the  man  of  the  oath  speaks  no  more,  and 
lives  no  more.  He  dies  there  in  that  place.  All 
Te-hua  men  can  tell  you  that  is  how  it  is.  No  one 
asks  another  to  make  an  oath. 

Also  no  one  asks  a  medicine  man  to  dance  before 
the  ancient  picture  of  the  stone  in  the  hills.  Only 
the  unmated  can  dance  there.  It  is  the  dance  to  the 
Supreme  Father  who  is  named  not  often.  He  is  that 
One  who  gives  earth  creatures  to  the  world  without 
earth  matings.  Thus  Po-se-yemo,  the  mountain  god, 
was  given  to  a  maid  as  her  child,  and  only  the  eagles 
and  the  shadow  of  the  pinon  tree  knew.  He  also 
gave  the  two  sons  of  wonder  to  the  Apache  goddess 
who  slept  on  the  mountain  alone  under  the  shadow 
of  a  rock  reaching  out.  Water  dripped  from  that 
rock  and  brought  the  birth  dream,  and  the  dream 
came  true  there  in  Apache  land.  Those  two  sons 
became  the  divine  warriors.  You  can  see  to-day  the 
giants  who  were  demons  and  who  were  slain  by  those 
two  sons  who  worked  together  for  good  on  earth. 
The  blood  of  the  giants  flowed  through  long  valleys 
and  turned  to  stone,  and  the  heads  of  the  giants  are 
also  stone  now,  and  lie  where  they  were  severed  from 
their  bodies  in  the  land  of  Navahu.  Thus  it  has  al- 
ways been  when  the  Ancient  Father  has  sent  the  God- 
Thought  to  the  earth.  Only  the  Wind,  or  the  Sun,  or 
the  Mist  of  the  Cloud  has  been  mate  to  the  mother. 


SHRINES  OF  SACRED  PLACES  181 


Yet  the  sons  Have  been  strong  for  magic  and  works 
of  wonder. 

Thus  there  has  been  through  the  ages,  one  sacred 
place  where  men  may  go  for  highest  medicine  —  if 
they  go  before  it  is  not  too  late ! 

Not  since  these  two  men  were  born  had  a  man 
danced  there,  and  the  last  man  who  did  so  had  danced 
without  the  truth  or  the  faith  in  his  heart.  No  one 
ever  knew  if  he  found  great  medicine  dreams,  for  he 
died  there.  After  many  days  they  went  —  and  they 
found  him  dead. 

"  Yes :  —  it  is  so,"  said  Tahn-te  the  Ruler  as  he  met 
the  eyes  of  his  friend.  "  All  may  know  that  I  go  to 
the  fast,  and  the  dance,  and  that  I  dance  for  them. 
It  will  be  told  from  the  house  tops  to-night,  but  when 
it  is  told  I  will  have  reached  the  hills. " 

"  I  may  not  dance,  but  I  also  will  fast,  and  I  will 
work  with  you,"  said  Po-tzah.  "  Others  will  work 
with  you  when  they  know.  Speak  for  our  children 
to  the  god!" 

Then  he  breathed  on  the  hand  of  Tahn-te  who  was 
to  do  high  work  and  high  penance  for  the  tribe,  and 
Tahn-te  felt  glad  music  in  his  heart  because  of  the 
words  of  his  friend,  and  when  he  laid  aside  his  white 
robe  and  left  his  house,  he  spoke  to  no  other  man, 
but  went  silent  to  the  shrine  on  the  mesa  where  the 
Arrow-Stone  clan  build  the  signal  fire  to  the  mountain 
god  in  the  night  time.  There  he  said  the  prayers 
which  were  long  prayers,  and  the  people  who  had 
noted  him  as  he  passed  (nude  but  for  the  girdle  and 
the  downy  breath  feathers  of  the  eagle)  halted  at  their 
work  among  the  corn  and  the  melon  vines  and  watched 
him  at  the  shrine.  From  the  terraced  roofs  also  the 
women  turned  from  their  weaving,  or  the  shaping  of 
pottery,  and  looked  after  the  tall  bronze  figure  girded, 


122       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


and  white  plumed.  They  could  see  his  wide-stretched 
hands  scatter  the  sacred  meal  of  prayer,  and  then  they 
saw  only  a  brown  runner  on  the  mesa  outlined  against 
the  western  sky.  He  had  entered  the  ceremonial  run 
in  which  there  is  no  moment  of  rest  from  the  mesa  of 
the  river  to  the  mountains  of  the  pine. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  MAID  OF  DREAMS 

INDIAN  prayer  is  not  the  placid  acceptance  of 
thoughts  comforting.  The  complete  man  is  both 
mind  and  body  —  and  all  of  him  must  work 
when  the  gods  are  called  upon  for  work,  and  by  fast- 
ing and  exhaustion  must  the  spirit  path  be  made  clear 
for  dreams. 

The  first  day  Tahn-te  had  sat  in  meditation  before 
the  sacred  wall  of  the  stone  face,  chanting  the  songs 
to  the  clouds  and  the  yellow  birds  of  the  sun  color, 
watching  the  pictured  rock  until  the  lines  moved  when 
his  body  swayed  to  the  chant,  and  a  living  thing 
seemed  before  him  —  the  accumulated  faiths  of  all 
the  devotees  in  that  place  since  the  god  was  born! 

As  the  sun  went  behind  the  mountain  he  knew  the 
village  herald  was  telling  the  people,  and  the  leaders 
of  Povi-whah  would  fast  that  night  and  send  their 
thoughts  to  him.  Po-tzah  would  fast  although  Po- 
tzah  was  not  called  upon  by  his  position  to  do  so. 

And  Po-tzah  had  said,  "  Speak  for  our  children  to 
the  god." 

He  seemed  to  hear  Po-tzah's  voice,  and  the  words 
repeat  themselves  in  the  dusk,  and  —  stranger  still  — 
another  voice  back  of  Po-tzah's!  it  also  spoke  of 
children  —  through  the  chanted  prayer  he  heard  it  — 
baffling  yet  insistent. 

Then  he  knew  it! 

He  know  it  as  the  first  shadow  of  the  visions  which 
123 


m      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  prayer  was  bringing:  —  it  was  the  voice  of  the 
Ruler  whose  office  he  now  held  —  the  aged  man  who 
had  once  worn  the  white  robe  and  said  — "  If  she  had 
not  died  —  her  children  would  be  your  children !  " 

The  picture  of  Po-tzah's  small  brown  babe  came 
between  him  and  the  sacred  figure  on  the  rock, —  a 
strange  thing  for  the  voice  to  suggest !  A  little  child 
—  in  the  dusk  —  and  —  sheltering  arms  around  it ! 

"  Oh  You! 
Oh  —  Indwelling  God ! 
Come  to  me! 
Grey  ghost  —  white  ghost 
Why  is  the  false  enchantment? 
Grey  ghost  of  darkness  — 
White  ghost  of  high  hills 
Make  way  for  sacred  magic, 
Sink  far  your  darkened  spells! 
O  You! 

O  Indwelling  God 
Come  to  me !  " 

In  the  dusk  a  shadow  —  or  it  might  have  been  a 
drooping  bough  of  the  pinon  tree  —  gave  outline  of  a 
bent  head  above  the  outline  of  the  babe  —  only  a 
strange  trick  of  carving  on  the  gray  stone,  and  sway- 
ing branches  outlining  a  head  —  then  the  shoulders 
^ —  then  an  arm  about  the  babe !  To  the  mind  of  the 
mystic  it  was  the  visible  temptation  of  a  black  en- 
chantment in  the  very  presence  of  the  god !  —  The 
strongest  the  opposing  powers  could  send  to  man 
under  vows  of  prayer  and  search  for  the  spirit  medi- 
cine of  the  highest  thought. 

"  Oh  You! 
Goddess  of  the  stars 
You  —  who  gives  the  life! 
Why  is  there  for  me  false  magic? 


THE  MAID  OF  DREAMS  125 


Mother  mine  of  the  starry  skirt 

Why  for  me  the  darkened  star? 

I,  Master  of  spells,  call  to  you ! 

Ho: — there!    It  is  I! 

Green  and  black  spirit  of  power 

Seek  elsewhere  your  victims! 

I  seek  the  light  —  I  find  the  light ! 

Mother  mine  of  the  starry  skirt 

I  find  the  light ! 

I  — Master  of  spells!  " 

He  was  no  longer  merely  a  singer  of  prayers  now. 
The  dance  before  the  Ancient  gods  had  begun  as  the 
first  stars  glimmered  in  the  blue. 

After  many  hours  of  the  dance  all  the  world  drifts 
far.  There  is  nothing  real  left  but  the  circle  where 
the  prayer  is,  and  the  space  where  the  feet  touch  in 
the  dull  pad-pad  on  the  trail  to  the  swoons  where 
visions  come. 

A  lone  figure  chanting  breathless  things :  —  not 
aloud  now !  The  utterance  is  only  broken  whispers  — 
only  a  god  could  read  the  meaning  of  them  I 

But  he  did  not  feel  alone.  All  the  Lost  Others 
were  back  of  him  looking  on  from  the  dusk  of  the 
pirion  boughs,  and  there  to  the  right,  ever  in  shadow, 
was  a  Presence !  It  stood  close  to  the  rock  wall. 
The  arms  were  folded,  the  line  of  the  body  strong  and 
erect.  The  face  was  a  hidden  face,  but  if  he  — 
Tahn-te,  faltered  in  the  lines  of  the  prayers, —  or 
sank  in  the  dance  before  the  time  —  then  he  felt  that 
the  phantom  there  would  become  real,  and  the  face 
would  be  seen,  and  that  strong  Thing  would  come 
forward  —  it  would  dance  for  jealous  ghosts  the 
dance  of  triumph  —  it  would  wipe  out  in  mockery  the 
unfinished  homage  to  the  gods ! 

I  The  dawn  came,  and  Tahn-te  danced  the  stars  of 
morning  into  the  glow  of  the  sun.    The  prayers  had 


126      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


been  all  said,  and  the  Watcher  no  longer  stood  by  the 
rock! 

Tahn-te  saw  nothing  now  but  the  glare  of  the  sun 
on  the  rock  wall  —  a  spot  of  light  in  the  circle  of 
black  pinon. 

He  no  longer  even  whispered.  His  moving  arms 
seemed  no  longer  a  part  of  him  —  it  was  as  if  numb- 
ness was  there.  His  feet  moved  mechanically  —  not 
able  to  lift  themselves  more  quickly  —  neither  able  to 
cease  by  his  own  will. 

The  Trues  were  watching  him  now,  waiting  to  help. 
There  was  the  white  bear  of  the  North  and  the  moun- 
tain lion  of  the  East.  There  was  the  wildcat  of  the 
West,  and  the  serpent  of  the  South.  There  was  the 
eagle  of  the  upper  world,  and  the  mystic  creature  of 
the  earth  home  which  tells  the  weather  wizards  of  the 
number  of  winter  days. 

They  were  all  there  —  so  the  prayer  had  been  a 
good  prayer. 

From  some  of  them  would  come  the  medicine 
dreams ! 

The  sun  stood  straight  above, —  then  little  by  little 
reached  towards  the  mountain.  It  made  shadows, 
and  as  the  shadow  of  the  sacred  rock  touched  the 
blinded  dancer,  he  sank  to  the  earth. 

As  he  fell  he  strove  to  echo  the  prayer  thought :  — 

"  I  find  the  light 
I  —  master  of  spells !  " 

But  he  did  not  speak  it.  Only  the  eagle  of  his 
dream  repeated  it  over  and  over  as  it  lifted  him  from 
the  place  where  he  had  fallen,  and  bore  him  swiftly 
to  the  highest  point  of  the  mountain  of  Tse-come-u- 
pin.    It  has  been  the  Sacred  Mountain  since  men  first 


THE  MAID  OF  DREAMS  127 


spoke  words  in  the  land.  When  a  man  has  climbed 
to  the  shrine  of  the  summit  there,  it  is  as  if  all  the 
world  is  very  far  below. 

And  that  makes  it  lonely  for  the  dweller  there. 

The  stars  were  again  alight  in  the  heavens  when 
the  devotee  awoke  from  his  sleep  of  exhaustion.  To 
his  entranced  senses  the  stars  were  as  the  eyes  of  the 
gods  who  watched  the  shrine  where  few  men  had  ever 
danced  and  lived.  The  wind  touched  the  pines  — 
and  he  thought  their  whispered  movement  was  the 
rustle  of  the  wings  of  the  eagle  who  had  come  in  his 
vision. 

For  the  eagle  was  now  his  medicine,  and  the  place 
where  the  eagle  had  carried  him  in  the  dream  was  the 
best  of  all  good  places  for  medicine  that  was  strong. 

In  the  starlight  he  again  faced  the  ancient  diety  of 
the  Lost  Others :  —  those  Others  who  had  carved 
the  stone  lions  of  Kat-yi-ti  at  their  entrance  to  the 
Under  world,  and  had  set  the  white  stone  bear  of  the 
North  on  guard  in  the  western  hills.  They  did  fine 
things  —  those  people  who  had  perhaps  first  named 
the  stars  above.  And  this  one  ancient  cave  god  of 
the  stone  face  was  a  link  —  so  the  wise  old  Ruler  had 
told  him  —  with  strange  Mexic  Brothers  of  the  far 
south  —  who  gave  worship  —  and  gave  human  sac- 
rifice, to  a  solitary  mountain  shrine,  called  the  shrine 
of  the  Sleeping  Woman,  where  few  men  could  dance 
—  or  even  learn  the  prayers  of  that  dance. 

No  awesome  Presence  now  faced  him  in  the  shadow 
of  the  rock  as  he  chanted  his  prayer  of  farewell  under 
the  stars.  He  had  danced  all  adverse  spirits  out  of 
the  charmed  circle.  His  way  was  clearly  marked 
now  to  follow  the  way  of  the  eagle, —  there  on  the 
shrine  of  Tse-come-u-pin  he  must  say  the  final  prayer. 


128      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


'All  of  harmony  and  all  of  hope  was  about  him. 
Three  days  and  three  nights  had  he  ran  or  chanted 
prayers,  or  danced  fasting,  yet  weariness  was  not  with 
him  as  he  ended  the  ceremony  which  no  man  since  his 
birth  had  made  in  this  place. 

Somewhere,  he  would  perhaps  fall  on  the  trail,  and 
the  men  of  Kah-po  or  of  Povi-whah  would  find  him, 
as  fainting  medicine  men  had  been  found  ere  this  — 
but  that  must  be  after  he  had  reached  the  shrine,  and 
gave  prayers  at  the  place  of  the  eagle  dream. 

Past  Puye  he  went  —  scarce  seeing  the  ghost  walls 
of  the  older  day;  in  sight  of  Shu-finne,  the  little  island 
of  forgotten  dwellings  on  the  north  mesa  —  through 
the  pines  to  the  canon  of  Po-et-se  where  rocks  of 
weird  shapes  stood  like  gray  and  white  giants  to  bar 
his  way.  He  thought  at  times  voices  sounded  from 
the  stone  pillars,  but  it  might  be  the  echo  of  his  own. 
—  He  knew  evil  spirits  did  lurk  along  his  trail  —  no 
mortal  could  escape  their  shadows.  Even  the  god 
who  had  lived  in  the  sun  had  been  hurled  to  earth  by 
them  when  the  earth  was  new,  and  the  first  trees  — 
the  pines,  had  begun  to  grow  at  the  edges  of  the  ice. 
Since  that  time  the  Sun  God  only  lived  in  the  sky  one 
half  the  time.  In  the  night  he  went  to  the  Under- 
world, and  the  strands  of  his  dark  hair  covered  his 
face.  He  must  not  let  himself  think  that  the  adverse 
spirits  were  less  than  men  in  strength  —  for  man 
needed  all  the  medicine  of  the  gods  to  war  against 
evill 

Thus  he  thought  —  and  muttered  and  stumbled 
blindly  towards  the  north.  Into  the  stream  of  Po- 
eh-hin-cha  he  crept  and  drank, —  then  up  —  up  to 
Po-pe-kan-eh  —  the  Place  where  the  Water  is  Born, 
and  from  there  to  the  shrine  of  the  Sacred  Mountain, 


nd  Reached  His  Hands  to  His  Brothers  — 

The  stars 

Page  129 


THE  MAID  OF  DREAMS  129 


though  his  hands  reached  for  help  from  every  tree  and 
rock  past  which  he  staggered  or  crept. 

Only  water  and  the  smoke  of  the  medicine  pipe  had 
been  his  portion.  One  may  not  eat  the  food  of  man, 
yet  commune  with  Those  Above. 

The  first  stars  were  above  the  hills  as  he  fell,  bleed- 
ing from  many  hurts  —  and  breathless  —  at  the 
shrine. 

Far  above  one  lone  eagle  soared,  and  the  weariness 
was  forgotten  in  the  joy  of  Tahn-te.  The  sacred 
spark  came  quickly  to  the  twigs  crossed  ceremonially 
for  the  fire  on  the  shrine,  and  into  the  blue  above,  the 
slender  trail  of  smoke  led  undeviatingly  up  where  the 
great  bird  drifted  as  if  awaiting  to  witness  his  offering 
of  fire.  Had  any  other  found  medicine  like  that? 
He  knew  now  that  his  magic  was  to  be  strong  magic, 
for  his  faith  had  been  great  —  and  he  had  followed 
the  faith,  and  found  the  bird  of  the  strong  gods  wait- 
ing his  coming ! 

Time  was  lost  to  him  in  the  trance  of  that  which 
he  had  lived  through.  The  day  was  gone,  and  he 
stood  alone  on  the  heights  and  reached  his  hands  in 
ecstacy  to  his  brothers  the  stars.  He  felt  the  exultant 
strength  of  the  mortal  with  whom  the  gods  have 
worked ! 

And  when  the  last  mountain  prayer  had  been 
whispered,  a  reeling,  staggering,  nude  figure  walked, 
and  sometimes  ran  and  often  fell  down  the  steep 
sides  of  Tse-come-u-pin,  and  when  the  great  dark 
pines  and  the  slender  aspens  were  reached,  he  used  his 
hands  as  well  as  his  feet  in  making  his  way,  reeling 
from  tree  to  tree,  but  holding  with  instinctive  steadi- 
ness to  the  trail  of  the  Navahu  —  the  ancient  way  of 
the  enemy,  where  ambush  and  slaughter  was  often 


130      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


known.  Many  captives  had  been  driven  between  the 
high  rock  walls.  Youths  and  maidens  swept  from 
Te-hua  corn  fields,  and  Navahu  captives  as  well, 
caught  by  Te-hua  hunters  in  the  hunting  grounds  to 
the  West, —  all  came  through  the  one  great  pass  — 
and  the  way  of  the  trail  was  so  narrow  that  to  guard 
it  was  not  a  hard  thing  in  time  of  battle. 

The  rush  of  the  swift  water  was  always  near  as  he 
went  on  and  on  in  the  darkness.  It  had  a  lulling 
effect.  The  whispers  of  the  pines  also  spoke  of  rest. 
This  was  the  fourth  day  of  the  fasting.  He,  Tahn-te, 
had  been  strong  as  few  men  are  strong,  but  suddenly 
in  the  night,  earth  and  sky  seemed  to  meet,  and  put- 
ting out  his  hands  he  groped  through  a  thicket  of  the 
young  pines,  and  fell  there  quite  close  to  the  dancing 
water  —  and  all  the  life  of  earth  drifted  far.  He, 
Tahn-te,  the  devotee  of  the  Trues  —  the  weaver  of 
spells,  and  dancer  of  the  Ancient  Dance  to  the  God 
of  the  Stone,  lay  at  last  in  the  stupor  beyond  dreams, 
helpless  in  the  path  of  an  enemy  if  any  should  trail 
him  for  battle. 

His  sleep  was  dreamless,  and  the  length  of  it  until 
the  dawn  seemed  but  a  hand's  breadth  on  the  path  of 
the  stars  across  the  sky. 

But  with  the  dawn  a  vision  came,  and  he  knew  it 
again  as  the  actual  form  of  that  which  had  been  so 
often  the  vague  dream-maid  of  charmed  moments. 

There  was  the  flash  of  water  in  the  pool  —  a  some- 
thing distinct  from  the  steady  murmur  of  its  ripples 
—  that  was  the  sign  by  which  he  was  wakened  quite 
suddenly,  without  movement  or  even  a  breath  that 
was  loud.  Under  the  little  pines  at  the  very  edge  of 
the  stream  he  was  veiled  in  still  green  shadows,  and 
there  before  him  was  The  Maid  of  Dreams.  Those 
Above  had  let  her  come  to  him  that  for  once  his  eyes 


^he  Maid  of  Dreams 

Page  130 


THE  MAID  OF  DREAMS  131 


should  see  and  his  heart  keep  her  in  the  medicine 
visions  of  this  fasting  time  of  prayer. 

Not  once  did  she  turn  her  eyes  towards  him  as  she 
stood,  dripping  with  the  water  of  the  bath.  Her 
slender  figure  was  in  shadow,  and  her  movements 
were  shy  and  alert  and  quick. 

To  the  dry  sand  she  stepped,  and  lifted  thence  a 
white  deerskin  robe.  Two  bluebird  wings  were  in 
the  white  banda  about  her  loosened  hair,  very  blue 
was  the  color  of  the  wings  as  the  light  touched  them, 
and  he  thought  of  the  wonderful  Navahu  Goddess 
Estsan-atlehi  who  was  created  from  an  earth  jewel  — 
the  turquoise,  and  who  is  the  beloved  of  the  Sun.  If 
a  maid  could  be  moulded  from  any  jewel  of  earth, 
Tahn-te  thought  she  would  look  like  this  spirit  of  the 
forest  stream.  Even  while  held  by  the  wonder  and 
the  beauty  of  the  vision,  he  thought  of  this,  and  re- 
called the  bluebird  feathers  in  the  prayer  plumes  of 
Tusayan :  —  next  to  the  eagle  they  were  sacred 
feathers :  —  the  gods  were  sending  him  strong 
thoughts  for  magic! 

Suddenly  the  maid  stood  tense  and  erect  as  though 
listening  —  or  was  it  only  the  nearness  of  a  mortal  by 
which  she  was  thrilled  to  movement  ?  —  for  she 
clasped  the  trailing  white  skin  to  her  breast,  and 
stepped  into  the  deeper  shadow  where  grew  the  frag- 
rant thickets  of  the  young  pine  under  the  arms  of  the 
great  pine  mothers. 

Without  sound  she  moved.  His  eyes  watched  in 
strained  eagerness  for  the  one  turn  of  the  head,  or 
one  look  of  the  eyes  towards  him,  but  that  was  not  to 
be.  To  mortal  all  the  joys  cannot  be  given  at  one 
time  —  else  all  would  be  as  gods ! 

He  stared  at  the  shadows  into  which  she  had 
blended  herself,  and  he  stared  at  the  pool  from  which 


188      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


she  had  arisen.  It  was  again  a  mirror  reflecting  only 
the  coming  day.  Yet  his  heart  leaped  as  he  saw  a 
sign  left  there  for  him ! 

Drifting  idly  there  in  a  circle  was  a  bit  of  blue  too 
vivid  for  the  echo  of  the  sky  of  dawn  —  it  was  the 
wing  of  a  bluebird,  and  even  as  he  looked,  it  was 
caught  in  an  eddy  more  swift,  and  moved  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  water  straight  to  the  edge  of  the  bank 
nearest  his  place  of  rest. 

Staggering  to  his  feet,  he  went  to  meet  it.  It  was 
not  an  empty  vision  as  the  maid  had  been,  and  it  did 
not  fade  as  he  grasped  it.  The  visions  of  the  night 
had  been  strong  visions,  but  with  the  dawn  had  come 
to  Tahn-te  the  added  medicine  of  the  second  gift  of 
the  Spirits  of  the  Air.  Above  the  clouds  must  his 
thoughts  be  in  their  height.  The  medicine  of  the 
eagle  had  made  that  plain  to  him,  and  the  feathers  of 
prayer  lay  in  his  hand  as  a  sign  such  as  had  come  to 
no  other  man! 

The  Brothers  of  the  Air  were  plainly  to  be  his 
kindred ! 

This  was  the  dawning  of  the  fifth  day  on  the  prayer 
trail.  A  little  way  he  walked,  and  the  world  reeled 
about  him, —  to  escape  from  the  cloud  of  weakness 
he  ran  the  way  of  the  brook  towards  the  far  river  — 
and  then  as  a  brook  falls  into  the  shadows  of  a  cavern 
place,  Tahn-te  fell  and  lay  where  he  fell.  In  the 
darkness  closing  over  him  he  heard  the  rustle  of  wings 
—  though  another  might  have  heard  only  the  whisper 
of  the  pines. 

When  the  sun  stood  straight  above,  and  the  bush 
of  the  sage  brooded  over  its  own  shadow,  it  was  then 
Po-tzah  and  the  brothers  of  Po-tzah  found  him. 
They  wondered  at  the  wing  of  the  bluebird  in  his 
hand,  but  carried  him  on  a  robe  of  the  buffalo  until 


THE  MAID  OF  DREAMS  133 


they  brought  him  to  his  own  home.  Then  the  people 
of  his  order  brought  to  him  the  foods  and  the  drinks 
allowed  after  the  fasting  time  to  the  men  who  make 
many  prayers. 

When  the  strength  had  come  back  he  spoke  in  secret 
council  of  the  vision  of  the  eagle  and  the  vision  of  the 
maid  born  from  the  waters  of  the  sacred  mountain  of 
prayer. 

The  old  men  debated  wisely  as  to  the  visions  and 
the  meaning  of  the  visions.  The  dance  was  a  great 
dance  and  plainly  had  the  favor  of  Sinde-hesi  since 
Tahn-te  had  come  out  of  it  alive;  —  the  Summer 
People  would  hold  a  long  feast  to  mark  the  time,  and 
the  boys  who  were  taught  by  the  old  men,  would  be 
told  in  the  kivas  of  the  ways  in  which  a  man  might 
grow  strong  in  body  and  strong  in  spirit  to  face  the 
god  who  lives  on  high  in  the  hills. 

Of  the  visions  of  the  eagles  they  were  glad —  for 
in  his  dream  Tahn-te  had  been  carried  by  the  eagle  to 
the  shrine  of  power,  and  that  was  very  great  medicine. 
It  was  well  he  had  kept  strength  to  follow  the  trail 
and  meet  the  eagle  there. 

Of  the  maid-vision  there  was  long  talk.  To  dream 
of  a  maid  was  the  natural  dream  thought  of  a  young 
man,  and  the  wing  of  the  bird  could  be  only  the 
symbol  for  thoughts  that  fly  very  high. 

The  clan  of  his  mother  —  the  Arrow  Stone  People, 
thought  the  vision  by  the  pool  meant  that  the  time  to 
choose  a  wife  had  come  to  Tahn-te.  He  had  proven 
himself  for  magic.  It  was  now  time  that  he  think  of 
strong  sons. 

The  elders  agreed  that  it  was  so,  and  talked  of  likely 
maids,  and  that  was  when  the  name  of  Yahn  the 
Beautiful  was  spoken.  But  Tahn-te  heard  part  of  the 
talk,  and  stopped  it.    He  had  read  the  books  of  the 


134     THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


white  god,  and  out  of  them  all  he  had  found  one 
strong  thought.  The  white  god,  and  the  prophets 
of  that  god,  were  strong  for  magic  because  they  did 
not  take  wives  of  the  tribes  about  them.  Because  of 
that  they  had  been  strong  to  conquer  their  world. 
He,  Tahn-te,  meant  to  work  for  the  red  gods  as  the 
priests  of  the  dark  robe  worked  for  the  white  gods. 
He  would  work  alone  unless  other  men  worked  with 
him.  It  was  not  magic  in  which  a  woman  could  help. 
But  alone  he  fastened  four  feathers  of  a  bluebird  to 
the  Prayer  Flute  of  the  far  desert,  and  in  the  dusks 
under  Venus  and  the  young  moon  he  breathed 
through  it  softly  to  bring  back  the  vision  of  the 
Maid  of  Dreams. 

Not  all  this  talk  was  spoken  of  outside  the  kiva: 
—  only  the  name  of  Yahn  had  been  said  —  and  that 
Tahn-te  would  have  no  wife  even  when  urged  by  the 
old  men.  But  Koh-pe,  the  wife  of  Ka-yemo  did  hear 
of  it  —  also  some  other  wives,  and  Yahn  Tsyn-deh 
heard  their  laughter,  and  carried  a  bitter  heart  in  the 
days  to  follow.  She  had  no  love  for  Tahn-te,  yet  — 
to  wed  with  the  Highest  —  would  be  victory  over  a 
false  lover! 

For  the  feast  made  for  Tahn-te  the  Po-Ahtun-ho, 
she  would  gather  no  flowers  and  bake  no  bread,  and 
when  the  dance  in  honor  of  Tahn-te  was  danced,  she 
put  on  her  dress  of  a  savage,  brown  deer  skin  fringed 
and  trimmed  with  tails  of  the  ermine  of  the  north. 
About  her  brows  she  fastened  a  band  on  which  were 
white  shells  and  many  beads  in  the  pattern  of  the 
lightening  path  —  and  on  it  was  also  the  white  of 
the  ermine  —  and  the  warrior  feathers  of  the  eagle 
which  she  wore  not  often  —  but  this  day  she  wore 
them ! 

Also  she  took  from  an  earthen  jar  the  strands  of 


TRAIGHT  TO  HlM  DRIFTED  THE  BLUEBIRD'S  WlNG 

Paze  132 


THE  MAID  OF  DREAMS  135 


beads  of  the  Navahu.  With  head  held  high  she 
walked  through  the  village  and  knew  well  that  she 
looked  finer  than  all  the  dancers.  Thus  proudly  she 
walked  to  the  sands  by  the  river's  edge,  and  held  the 
beads  against  her  brow  and  bosom  —  and  twisted 
them  about  her  round  arms  as  she  gazed  at  her  re- 
flection in  the  water.  But  the  pride  and  the  defiance 
died  out  of  her  face  when  there  were  no  jealous  eyes 
to  watch,  and  a  tear  fell  on  the  still  water,  breaking 
the  picture. 

For  a  space  she  stood  ^— 9  a  lonely  figure  despite  her 
trophies  — and  the  music  of  the  dance  came  to  her 
on  the  wind,  and  filled  her  with  sullen  rage.  A  canoe 
was  on  the  shore  above ;  she  pushed  it  into  the  water 
and  stepped  in  lifting  the  paddle  of  split  ash  wood 
and  sending  the  craft  darting  downwards  —  anywhere 
to  be  away  from  the  voices  of  people. 

And  Koh-pe,  of  the  red  beads,  laughed  at  a  safe 
distance,  and  told  her  comrades  of  the  terraces  that 
the  Apache  had  gone  fishing  without  a  net  «=  she 
would  come  home  empty ! 


CHAPTER  XII 


COMING  OF,  THE  CASTILIANS 

BECAUSE  a  runner  from  Kat-yi-ti  had  been 
killed  on  the  trail  by  a  mountain  lion,  and  be- 
cause the  village  of  Povi-whah  had  forgotten 
the  strangers  from  the  south  in  the  excitement  of 
Tahn-te's  return  (for  many  there  were  who  thought 
never  to  see  him  again!)  — because  of  these  things  it 
was  that  the  men  of  iron  rode  unseen  by  the  river,  and 
the  alarm  was  called  from  sentry  to  sentry  on  the  mesa 
where  the  workers  in  flint  shaped  the  arrow-points, 
and  were  guards  as  well  for  the  village  below. 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  glint  of  sunlight  on 
steel  and  helmet,  and  the  beasts  with  strange  strap- 
pings. The  men  of  the  beards  were  indeed  at  the 
very  edge  of  their  planted  fields ! 

And  they  saw  more  than  that,  for  they  saw  a  girl 
who  ran  from  the  shore  to  meet  them.  So  fleet  was 
her  running  that  her  hair  swept  like  a  dusk  cloud  be- 
hind her,  and  the  soldier  Gonzalvo  stared  at  her  with 
open  mouth. 

"  By  the  true  cross,  that  looks  better  to  me  than 
the  thimble  full  of  gold !  "  he  announced,  and  Don 
Ruy  laughed  and  put  his  horse  on  the  other  side  of 
Don  Diego  as  though  to  protect  him  from  temptation. 

"  You,  and  his  reverence  the  padre,  have  the 
records  and  the  prayers  to  your  share,"  he  suggested, 
— "  but  eyes  bright  as  those  —  and  lips  as  tempt- 
ing—" 

136 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  137 


"  The  heathen  wench  does  look  like  the  seven 
deadly  sins  for  enticement,"  agreed  Don  Diego  and 
made  the  sign  of  the  cross. 

"  A  shameless  wench,  indeed,"  agreed  Padre  Vi- 
cente — "  with  her  bosom  bare,  and  little  but  her  hair 
as  a  cloak !  —  What  is  it  she  calls  ?  —  Holy  God  1  ^— < 
did  you  hear?  " 

All  had  halted  now.  Pretty  women  and  girls  had 
been  hidden  in  the  villages  of  their  trail.  Even  if 
they  chanced  to  glimpse  one  it  was  by  chance  —  and 
among  the  wall-housed  barbarians  no  dames  bold  as 
this  one  had  been  seen :  ■ —  neither  had  one  been  seen 
so  alluring. 

Again  her  voice  reached  them  and  this  time  the 
tones  were  clear  and  the  words  certain. 

"  Greetings  to  you  —  Lords  ■ —  Castilians !  " 

A  shout  went  up  from  the  men.  At  last  a  land  had 
been  reached  where  an  interpreter  was  not  needed  for 
the  woman.  It  put  a  different  complexion  on  the 
day.  Tired  men  straightened  in  their  saddles  and 
Ruy  Sandoval  laughed  at  the  amaze  on  the  face  of 
Gonzalvo  —  that  hardy  soldier  of  many  lands  stared 
as  if  by  a  witch  enthralled. 

"  How  call  you  yourself,  mistress?"  inquired  the 
priest  coldly,  "and  is  it  the  custom  of  the  men  of  the 
Po-son-ge  to  send  their  wives  to  greet  men  who 
travel?  " 

"Yahn  Tsyn-deh  I  am," — she  said — "and  not 
wife." 

"  Humph !  "  the  grunt  of  Maestro  Diego  was  not 
polite.  Even  the  desert  might  not  be  a  safe  place 
to  bring  youth  if  damsels  of  this  like  grew  in  the 
sage  clumps.  "  It  is  said  to  be  a  good  luck  sign 
when  a  man  comes  first  over  the  threshhold  on  a  New 
Year's  day  and  on  a  Monday, —  it  starts  the  year  and 


138      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  week  aright  —  and  how  read  you  this  of  a  female 
crossing  first  for  us  the  line  of  welcome  in  the  new 
land  of  treasure?  —  read  you  good  fortune  here  in 
all  that  would  be  ill  fortune  at  home  ?  " 

"  Save  your  croaking  since  she  is  beautiful  to  a 
marvel !  "  said  Don  Ruy  lightly.  "  If  they  tell  us 
truly  that  the  world  is  round,  who  knows  that  we  may 
not  be  nicely  balanced  on  an  opposite  to  Seville,  and 
all  things  of  life  and  portent  to  be  reversed?  There's 
a  thought  for  your  1  Relaciones ! ' — treasure  it,  senor ! 

—  treasure  it ! 

"  I  am  not  yet  of  a  mind  that  the  unsanctified  globe 
theory  is  to  be  accepted  by  true  believers !  "  announced 
Don  Diego  with  decision  — "  that  you  well  know !  — 
and  also  you  know  that  my  scriptural  evidence  — " 

"  Is  as  good  as  that  of  any  man !  "  agreed  his 
charge  who  was  more  his  master  and  tormentor. 
"  But  if  we  halt  here  while  you  make  the  maps  of 
Cosmo  in  the  sand,  we  will  miss  the  rest  of  the  maids, 
for  all  my  looking  shows  me  no  others  on  the  run  to 
us." 

Yahn  was,  meanwhile,  with  great  unconcern,  mak- 
ing braids  of  her  hair,  and  breathing  with  more  ease, 
and  using  her  eyes  well  the  while.  The  piercing 
look  of  the  padre  was  the  only  one  she  faltered  under, 
and  that  of  Gonzalvo  she  met  in  elusive  coquetry. 

"  I  am  alone,"  she  said  to  Don  Ruy.  "  The  others 
feast  this  day.  I  know  your  words.  I  come  alone; 
maybe  you  want  that  I  talk  for  you." 

"  It  is  true  that  we  all  want  much  talk  from  you 

—  and  perhaps  some  smiles  —  eh?  But  give  not 
another  to  Juan  Gonzalvo  —  he  looks  like  a  mooing 
calf  from  the  last  one  he  got, —  and  I  warn  you  that 
such  special  happiness  — " 


Lonely  Figure  Despite  Her  Trophies 

Paze  135 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  139 


"  Peace !  "  said  the  padre  with  impatient  authority. 
"  The  girl  has  understanding,  and  it  is  best  to  move 
warily  when  the  ground  is  new.  Are  you  the  only 
one  who  speaks  Castilian?  " 

"  No  —  two  more.    Ka-yemo  the  chief  of  war 

—  He  is  of  my  clan.  He  learn  it  with  Capitan 
Coronado." 

The  men  closed  around  listening  —  this  was  the 
man  they  had  heard  of  at  Ah-ko  and  at  Kat-yi-ti. 

"  He  is  the  shaman  who  learned  with  Fray  Luis," 
said  the  padre.  "  We  have  heard  of  him,  and  of  his 
unsanctified  devotion  to  the  false  gods.  We  have 
come  to  save  such  souls  for  the  true  faith.  And  he 
is  now  Capitan  —  eh  ?  " 

"  Ka-yemo  is  Capitan  —  not  shaman.  He  speaks 
your  words  — " 

"And  the  other  one?  " 

"  Other  one !  " —  The  face  of  Yahn  darkened, 
her  lips  grew  straight  in  a  hard  line  —  her  bosom 
heaved.    Tahn-te  had  seen  and  known  her  abasement 

—  also  her  name  had  been  among  those  put  aside  — 
always  she  would  hate  Tahn-te, —  "  The  other  one 
is  the  man  of  the  feast.  He  has  danced  where  other 
men  fall  dead  in  the  dance.    He  does  not  fall  dead 

—  not  anything  makes  him  dead!  He  holds  snakes 
like  other  men  hold  rabbits"  (She  was  watching 
warily  the  faces  of  her  listeners  and  saw  them  shrink 
in  distaste)  — her  own  face  grew  keen  and  bright 
with  cunning.  "  It  is  true  —  like  this  he  takes  the 
snake  " —  she  held  a  wand  of  willow  about  her  neck, 
and  then  held  it  in  both  hands  above  her  head  — 
"  like  this  —  and  calls  it  *  brother  of  the  sands.'  He 
calls  eagles  down  from  the  clouds  to  him  —  other 
birds,  too  " —  and  her  eyes  took  on  a  look  of  fear* — 


14Q      [THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  and  in  dark  nights  —  no  —  I  can  not  say  more 
words!  It  is  bad  medicine  to  say  words  of  witches 
while  witches  are  yet  alive. " 

"  He  was  taught  by  the  padres  to  be  Christian:  — 
yet  turns  back  to  the  false  gods,  and  < —  is  a  sor- 
cerer ?"  demanded  Maestro  Diego.  "  You  have 
your  work  plainly  cut  out  for  you,  Eminence !  "  and  he 
turned  to  Padre  Vicente  — "  A  leader  who  has  been 
granted  the  light,  yet  seeks  darkness,  is  but  a  burn- 
ing brand  for  the  pit!  " 

"  But  " —  suggested  the  lad  Chico  —  who  spoke 
but  rarely  in  the  face  of  the  company,  "  is  there  not 
white  magic  as  well  as  the  magic  of  the  darkness? 
Did  not  the  saints  of  the  church  deal  openly  in  the 
white  magic  of  their  god?  This  pretty  woman 
plainly  has  only  hate  —  or  fear « —  of  the  sorcerer. 
Does  the  dame  strike  any  of  you  as  being  so  saintly  as 
to  be  above  guile?  " 

The  men  laughed  at  that,  and  Don  Ruy  clapped 
him  on  the  shoulder. 

"  Well  reasoned,  Chico  —  and  frankly  said !  We 
will  see  the  sorcerer  at  his  work  before  we  pass 
judgement.    But  the  lady  will  love  you  little !  " 

"  The  less  ill  luck  to  me  for  that !  " —  retorted  the 
lad.  "  Her  eyes  are  all  for  Juan  Gonzalvo  r—  and 
for  your  Excellency  !  " 

"  I  am  sworn  for  my  soul's  sake  to  the  troth  of  a 
silken  scarf  and  a  mad  woman  somewhere  in 
Mexico/'  decided  Don  Ruy  whimsically.  "  If  I  am 
to  live  a  celibate, —  as  our  good  padre  imposes,  it  is 
well  to  cheat  myself  with  a  lady  love  across  the 
border, —  even  though  she  gave  me  no  favors  beyond 
a  poet's  verse  and  a  battered  head." 

"A  lady  —  beat  you?"  queried  Chico  in  amaze 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  141 


looking  at  the  strong  figure  of  Don  Ruy  — "  and 
though  mad,  you  give  to  her —  faithfulness?  " 

"  A  faithfulness  enforced,  lad !  "  and  his  patron 
chuckled  at  the  amaze  in  the  eyes  of  the  youth. 
"  Since  this  crusade  allows  us  no  dames  for  company 
it  is  an  ill  one  among  us  cannot  cheat  himself  into  the 
thought  that  a  gracious  dona  awaits  his  return!  It 
is  the  only  protection  against  such  sirens  as  this  one 
of  the  loosened  braids.  To  be  sure,  my  goddess  of 
Mexico — (so  says  the  padre)  —  was  only  a  mad 
woman  —  and  her  servants  gave  me  a  scratched 
skull.  Yet,  as  I  am  weak  and  need  protection,  I 
carry  the  scarf  of  the  wench,  and  call  her  a  goddess 
and  my  "  Dona  Bradamante  " —  in  my  dreams  — 
that  does  no  harm  to  any  one,  and  enables  me  to 
leave  the  ladies  of  the  road  to  Gonzalvo  —  and  the 
others !  Oh  —  a  dream  woman  is  a  great  rest  to  the 
mind,  lad, —  especially  is  she  so  when  she  affects  a 
wondrous  perfume  for  her  silks !  " 

He  drew  the  scarf  from  his  pocket  and  sniffed  at 
it,  content  to  make  the  lad  laugh  at  the  idle  fancy, 
and  while  he  jested  thus,  Padre  Vicente  and  Gon- 
zalvo gathered  much  information  from  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh.  There  was  a  feast,  she  told  them,  and  all 
the  village  was  merry,  and  the  time  of  the  visit  was 
a  good  time. 

From  the  terraces  of  Kah-po  and  Povi-whah  many 
eyes  watched  the  coming  of  the  men  of  iron.  But 
the  women  who  watched  were  few, —  all  the  maids 
and  even  the  young  wives,  had  started  at  once  for 
the  sanctuary  of  the  ancient  dwellings  of  the  place 
of  Old  Fields.  There  the  Woman  of  the  Twilight 
was  awaiting  them  —  much  corn  and  dried  meat  and 
beans  had  been  stored  there  in  the  hills  in  waiting  for 


142      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


this  time.  If  fighting  was  to  be  done,  it  should  not 
be  a  quarrel  for  wives  —  as  had  happened  with 
Coronado's  soldiers  in  Tiguex. 

But  the  white  adventurers  gave  every  evidence  of 
the  desire  to  be  modest  in  their  demands.  They  did 
not  even  enter  the  village  —  nor  seek  to  do  so  until 
the  place  of  the  camp  had  been  decided  upon.  Even 
Jose  was  not  allowed  to  precede  the  others  in  search 
of  kindred.  He  and  his  wife  Ysobel  watched  the 
terraces,  and  the  courage  of  the  latter  grew  weak 
unto  tears  at  the  trials  possibly  behind  the  silent  walls. 

The  boy  Chico  reassured  her  with  jestings  and 
occasional  whisperings  until  the  woman  smiled, 
though  her  eyes  were  wet. 

"  I  shall  risk  my  own  precious  soul  and  body  be- 
side you,"  he  stated, — "  since  my  master  Don  Diego 
makes  me  a  proxy  while  we  learn  if  it  is  safe  enough 
inside  those  walls  for  his  own  sacred  bones.  He  will 
say  the  prayers  for  us  until  our  faces  are  shown  to 
him  again !  " 

Then  he  threw  himself  on  the  green  sward  and 
laughed,  and  told  Ysobel  what  a  fine  thing  it  was  to 
be  carefree  of  a  spouse  and  able  to  kick  up  one's  heels : 
— "  If  it  had  not  been  for  love  and  a  wedding  day 
you  would  be  happily  planting  beans  in  the  garden 
of  the  nuns  instead  of  following  a  foreign  husband  to 
his  own  people !  " 

Don  Ruy  sauntered  near  enough  to  hear  the  fillip 
and  see  the  woman  dry  her  eyes. 

"  Why  is  it,  Dame  Ysobel,  that  you  allow  this  lad 
to  make  sport  of  serious  things?  "  he  asked  austerely. 
"  He  is  woefully  light  minded  for  so  portentous  an 
expedition." 

Ysobel  stammered,  and  glanced  at  the  lad,  and  dug 
her  toe  in  the  soil,  and  was  dumb. 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  143 


"  You  overwhelm  her  with  your  high  and  mighty 
notice,  Excellency,"  said  the  lad  coming  to  her  aid. 
"  I  will  tell  you  truly  —  Ysobel  has  had  patience  with 
me  since  I  had  the  height  of  your  knee  —  and  it  is 
now  a  custom  with  her.  She  lived  once  in  the  house 
of  my  —  relatives.  We  were  both  younger  —  and 
she  had  no  dreams  of  wedding  a  wild  Indian  —  nor 
I  of  seeking  adventure  among  savages.  She  is 
afraid  now  that  her  husband  may  be  blamed  —  or 
sacrificed  for  bringing  strangers  here  —  the  story  of 
the  padre  at  the  well  of  Ah-ko  is  not  forgotten  by 
her." 

Whereupon  Don  Ruy  told  her  there  should  be  no 
harm  to  Jose  —  if  he  was  treated  without  welcome 
by  the  Te-haus  he  should  go  back  in  safety  to  Mexico 
to  follow  his  own  will  in  freedom. 

The  woman  murmured  thanks  and  was  content, 
and  his  excellency  surveyed  the  secretary  in  silence 
a  bit,  until  warm  color  crept  into  the  face  of  the  boy 
to  his  own  confusion. 

"  So !  —  Your  independence  was  because  you  had 
a  friend  at  court?  " —  he  observed.  "  It  is  fool  luck 
that  you,  with  your  girl's  mouth,  and  velvet  cheeks, 
should  get  nearest  the  only  woman  in  camp  —  and 
have  a  secret  with  her !  It  is  high  time  you  went  to 
confession !  " 

Upon  which  he  walked  away,  and  left  the  two  to- 
gether, and  Chico  lay  on  the  grass  and  laughed  until 
called  to  make  records  of  all  that  might  occur  be- 
tween visiting  Castilian  and  the  Children  of  the  Sun 
in  their  terraced  village. 

Then,  while  the  men  set  about  the  preparations  for 
a  resting  place,  and  supper  Padre  Vicente,  with  Don 
Ruy,  Chico,  Gonzalvo  and  the  two  Indians  walked 
quietly  to  the  gate  in  the  great  wall. 


1M      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


Many  eyes  were  watching  them  as  they  were  well 
aware,  and  ere  they  reached  the  gate,  it  opened,  and 
the  old  governor  Phen-tza,  the  war  capitan  and  sev- 
eral of  the  older  men  stood  there  with  courteous 
greeting  of  hand  clasps  and  invitation. 

For  the  first  time  since  his  marriage,  Ka-yemo 
came  face  to  face  with  Yahn  Tsyn-deh,  and  quick 
anger  flamed  in  his  eyes  as  he  saw  her  walk  close  to 
the  side  of  Juan  Gonzalvo  who  whispered  to  her  — 
and  her  answer  was  a  smile  from  provocative,  half 
closed  eyes. 

"  Yahn !  " —  the  voice  of  Ka-yemo  was  not  loud, 
but  hard  and  full  of  angry  meaning.  "  The  other 
women  of  your  clan  have  gone  to  the  hills !  " 

"  Let  them  go,"  said  the  girl  insolently  — "  I  do 
not  go !  For  these  strangers  I  make  the  talks  to  the 
old  men,  I  am  the  one  woman  needful  in  the  valley 
of  Po-son-ge !  " 

It  was  the  hour  of  her  triumph,  and  Padre  Vicente 
looked  at  the  two  keenly.  Here  was  a  clash  of  two 
savage  minds  —  potent  for  good  or  ill. 

"  To  the  council  I  will  talk  —  I  am  of  the  people 
of  your  father  —  I  am  the  nearest  man  —  I  tell  you 
I  forbid  you !  " 

His  words  fell  over  each  other  in  anger,  and  his 
uncle,  the  governor,  looked  at  him  in  reproach  — 
this  was  not  a  moment  for  private  quarrel. 

"  Are  you  so !  —  the  nearest?  "  and  Yahn  showed 
her  teeth.  "  I  do  not  see  it  so.  I  stand  near  two 
other  men,  and  am  well  content !  " 

She  stood  between  Gonzalvo  and  Chico,  and 
smiled  on  the  latter,  who  frankly  smiled  a  response 
—  at  that  moment  Yahn  was  happy  in  her  defiance. 
Ka-yemo  need  not  think  her  forsaken!  She  had 
caught  fish  without  a  net!    To  the  governor  Jose 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  145 


was  speaking;  at  once  there  were  signs  of  delight 
among  the  listeners.  One  of  the  old  men  was  of 
his  clan  —  other  of  his  people  were  alive  —  and  all 
had  thought  never  to  look  on  him  again,  it  was  a 
good  day  at  Povi-whah! 

Jose  showed  them  his  wife,  who  was  greeted  with 
joy,  and  all  proceeded  to  the  court  of  the  village, 
where,  at  the  house  of  the  governor,  they  were  given 
cooked  corn  of  the  feast,  then  rolls  of  bread,  and 
stew  of  deer  meat. 

Jose  told  of  his  days  as  a  slave  until  he  was  traded 
into  the  land  of  Padre  Vicente,  and  of  the  great  de- 
sire of  Padre  Vicente  to  bring  him  back  in  some 
lucky  year  to  his  people,  and  also  to  see  with  his  own 
eyes  the  fine  land  of  the  Te-huas.  He  added  also 
that  the  padre  had  been  very  kind,  and  that  he  was 
near  to  the  white  god  of  the  men  of  iron,  and  strong 
in  medicine  of  the  spirit  world. 

"  We  already  know  that  the  medicine  of  the  men 
of  iron  is  strong  medicine  —  and  that  their  gods 
listen,"  said  the  governor. 

"  Also  Tahn-te  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  makes  it  seen 
that  the  mountain  god  of  this  land,  and  the  young 
god  of  the  Castilian  land,  were  maybe  brothers," — 
said  Po-tzah  watching  closely  the  faces  of  the 
strangers.  "  Only  your  god  made  talking  leaves  — 
and  our  god  gave  us  only  the  sunshine  to  see  things 
for  ourselves." 

"  Where  is  this  man  who  tells  you  that  books  are 
made  and  that  false  gods  are  brothers  to  the  true?  " 
inquired  Padre  Vicente. 

"  It  is  the  Po-Ahtun-ho,"  said  Jose  before  Yahn 
could  speak.  "  In  Castillian  he  would  be  called 
Cacique.  The  word  in  Maya  for  that  ruler  is  the 
same  word  as  in  Te-hua.    It  is  a  very  old  word.  It 


146      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


is  the  head  of  the  highest  order  of  the  Spirit  Things. 
It  is  what  you  call  maybe  Pope.  There  are  many 
priests,  and  many  medicine  men  in  each  village. 
There  is  only  one  Cacique  at  one  time." 

"  Which  of  these  men  may  it  be?  "  inquired  Padre 
Vicente.    Yahn  it  was  who  answered. 

"  The  Cacique  of  Povi-whah  is  not  seen  by  every 
stranger  who  walks  by  the  river,"  she  said,  and 
smiled  scornfully.  "  He  has  come  out  of  the  moun- 
tain from  the  dance  to  the  greatest  of  gods,  and  after 
that  dance  it  is  not  easy  to  talk  to  earth  people !  " 

"  But  —  when  people  come  from  the  far  lands  of 
a  strange  king — " 

"  That  is  the  business  of  the  governor  and  of  the 
war  capitan,"  stated  Yahn.  "  He  who  is  named 
Cacique  in  this  land  has  not  to  do  with  strangers  in 
the  valley.  His  mind  is  with  the  Spirit  Things. 
These  are  the  heads  of  the  village  of  Povi-whah  — 
here  also  is  the  governor  of  Kah-po.  They  will  listen, 
and  learn  from  your  words,  and  answer  you." 

"  I  know  words,"  stated  Ka-yemo  looking  at  Don 
Ruy  and  the  priest.  "  I  can  say  words  —  I  teach  it 
her," —  and  he  motioned  to  Yahn,  who  had  dwarfed 
them  all  with  quick  wit  and  glib  speech.  "  Woman 
not  need  in  council.  I  —  captain  of  war  can  make 
talk." 

"  Is  not  the  damsel  enlisted  as  official  interpreter 
for  one  of  us?  "  queried  Don  Ruy.  "  I  hold  it  best 
that  the  bond  be  understood  lest  the  beauty  be  sent 
beyond  reach  —  and  some  of  our  best  men  squander 
time  on  her  trail!  Since  you,  good  father,  have 
Jose, —  I  will  lay  claim  to  this  Cleopatra  who  calls 
herself  by  another  name, —  a  fire  brand  should  be 
kept  within  vision.  Your  pardon,  Eminence  —  and 
you  to  the  head  of  the  council  in  all  else !  " 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  14? 


The  padre  directed  his  conversation  to  Ka-yemo, 
while  the  secretary  set  down  the  claiming  of  Yahn 
as  the  first  official  act  in  council  of  His  Excellency 
Don  Ruy  de  Sandoval. 

At  the  scratching  of  the  quill,  his  excellency  looked 
over  the  shoulder  of  the  lad,  and  read  the  words, 
and  smiled  with  his  eyes,  while  his  lips  muttered  dire 
threats —  even  to  discharging  him  from  office  if  the 
records  were  kept  in  a  manner  detrimental. 

"  Detrimental  to  whom,  my  lord?  "  asked  the  lad, 
who  saw  well  the  restrained  smile.  "  Your  1  Dona 
Bradamante  1  of  the  scarf  is  not  to  set  eyes  on  these 
serious  pages, —  and  the  Don  Diego  will  certainly 
exact  that  I  keep  record  of  how  near  our  company 
falls  in  the  wake  of  the  Capitan  Coronado's  —  their 
troubles  began  about  a  wife  —  thus  it  is  well  to  keep 
count  of  fair  favorites  —  and  this  one  who  tells  you 
plainly  she  is  no  wife,  looks  promising.  Helena  of 
Trois  might  have  had  no  more  charms  to  her  dis- 
credit! " 

Don  Ruy  said  no  more,  for  he  saw  that  Yahn  was 
straining  her  ears  to  catch  at  their  meaning,  and  they 
were  all  losing  the  words  of  council.  It  appeared 
plain  that  all  the  chief  men  were  quite  willing  that 
the  Po-Ahtun-ho  should  meet  the  men  of  iron  as  was 
the  padre's  wish  —  but  that  no  one  could  command 
it. 

"  (Through  what  power  is  one  man  more  su- 
preme than  others  ?  —  Yet  you  say  you  have  no 
king!" 

"  No  — no  king.  The  Governor  is  made  so  each 
year  by  the  men  in  council — only  one  year  —  then 
another  man  —  the  Governor  gets  no  corn  in  trade 
for  his  time, —  and  no  other  thing,  but  honor,  if  he 
is  good!    Tahn-te  has  talked  to  us  in  council  of 


148       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


kings, —  thus  we  know  what  a  king  does.  We  have 
no  king." 

"  But  while  a  man  is  the  governor  does  he  not  rule 
all  the  people?  " 

"  No  —  it  is  not  so.  He  works  for  the  people. 
He  has  a  right  hand  man,  and  a  left  hand  man  to 
talk  with  of  all  things.  But  when  it  is  a  big  thing 
of  trouble  or  of  need,  at  that  time  the  council  is 
called,  and  each  man  speaks,  and  in  the  end  each  man 
put  a  black  bean  or  a  white  bean  in  a  jar  to  say  for 
him  "  yes  "  or  to  say  for  him  "  no."  That  is  how 
the  law  is  made  in  all  the  villages  of  the  Po-son-ge 
valley.    There  is  no  king !  " 

"  We  are  of  a  surety  in  a  new  world  if  rulers  work 
only  for  honor  —  and  get  not  any  of  that  unless 
they  are  good !  "  decided  Don  Ruy.  "  Make  record 
of  that  novelty,  Chico  —  our  worthy  Maestro  Diego 
will  find  no  equal  of  that  rule  in  all  Europe !  " 

"  It  is  well  for  civilization  that  it  is  so !  "  decided 
Juan  Gonzalvo.  "  Who  is  to  advance  the  arts  and 
knightly  orders  except  there  be  Courts  of  Pontiff 
and  of  Royalty?" 

"  And  the  royalty  would  be  a  weak  stomached  lot 
if  they  gained  not  even  extra  corn  for  all  their  sceptre 
waving,  and  royal  nods;  —  eh?  But  what  of  this 
Po-Ahtun-ho  —  this  man  who  is  not  king  —  yet  who 
is  supreme?  " 

This  query  was  interpreted  by  Jose,  and  after 
talk  and  deliberation  one  of  the  oldest  men  made 
answer. 

"  The  Po-Ahtun  is  an  order  very  ancient.  When 
the  earth  was  yet  soft,  and  the  rocks  wet,  and  the 
first  people  were  taught  words  by  the  mocking  bird, 
—  in  that  time  of  our  Ancient  Fathers,  gods  spoke 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  149 


to  men  —  and  in  that  time  the  order  of  Po-Ahtun  was 
made.  It  was  made  that  men  could  work  together 
on  earth  for  spirit  good.  When  the  Mountain  God, 
Po-se-yemo,  lived  as  a  man  on  the  earth, —  he  was  the 
chief  priest  of  the  Po-Ahtun  order.  Po-Ahtun  means 
"  The  Ruler  of  Things  from  the  Beginning."  Many 
men  belong  to  the  Po-Ahtun,  and  learn  the  prayers, 
and  the  songs  of  the  prayers.  When  the  Po-Ahtun- 
ho  walks  no  more  on  the  earth  —  and  his  spirit  goes 
on  the  twilight  trail  to  Those  Above,  at  that  time  the 
brothers  of  the  order  name  the  man  who  is  to  be 
Ruler  —  and  he  rules  also  until  he  dies. 

"  Then  it  seems  your  Cacique  is  really  a  king. 
You  but  call  him  by  a  different  name." 

44  No  —  it  is  not  so.  Tahn-te  has  told  the  men 
of  Povi-whah  what  a  king  is.  We  have  no  king. 
A  king  rights  with  knife,  and  with  spear,  and  he,  in 
his  own  village,  punishes  the  one  who  does  evil,  and 
orders  what  men  work  on  the  water  canal  for  the 
fields :  —  and  what  men  make  new  a  broken  wall,  or 
what  men  clean  the  court  which  is  the  property  of 
all.  The  king  and  his  men  say  how  all  these  things 
then  must  be  done.  With  the  people  of  Povi-whah 
the  governor  does  these  works  and  orders  them  done, 
and  has  the  man  whipped  if  the  work  he  does  is  bad 
work.  The  chief  of  war  does  work  as  do  other 
men,  until  the  Navahu  and  the  Yutahs  have  to  be 
driven  away  ;  — then  it  is  his  work  to  fight  them  —  he 
is  a  warrior,  but  he  does  king  work  in  war.  These 
are  the  men  who  do  king  work.  But  we  have  no 
king." 

"By  our  Lady!  —  'tis  a  nice  distinction,"  said 
Don  Ruy  as  the  old  man  ceased,  and  the  men  of  Te- 
hua  nodded  their  appreciation  of  the  old  man's  state- 


150      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


ment.  "Save  your  quill  scratching,  Chico  —  until 
you  are  in  camp.  Their  eyes  show  little  favor  for 
the  work." 

The  secretary  obediently  thrust  in  his  pouch  ink 
horn  and  quill,  and  clearly  Don  Ruy  was  right,  for 
the  bronze  faces  brightened,  and  their  eyes  regarded 
the  young  man  with  approval  —  the  magic  of  that 
black  water  might  prove  potent  and  forbidding  — 
never  before  had  it  been  seen  in  council. 

Padre  Vicente  had  given  a  cigarro  to  each  man, 
and  while  the  ancient  speaker  rested,  and  Jose  inter- 
preted, all  smoked  the  wonderful  smoke  from  the 
south,  and  Chico  took  occasion  to  say  low  to  Don 
Ruy: 

"  Of  all  this  there  is  little  to  make  record  that  is 
new.  Tribes  of  Mexico  have  such  rules  of  life. 
The  legends  of  our  people  say  they  came  ages  ago 
out  of  the  far  North.  These  are  maybe  but  the 
children  of  their  brothers  who  the  records  say  stopped 
on  the  way  to  plant  corn,  or  to  hunt,  or  to  rest  from 
travel." 

"Records?  —  Where  are  such  records?"  asked 
Don  Ruy  derisively, —  "  in  the  royal  archives  of  some 
mud  hut?" 

The  eyes  of  Chico  flashed  fire  for  one  instant;  the 
amazed  Spaniard  was  scarce  certain  of  the  anger  in 
the  secretary's  face  when  it  changed,  and  the  boy 
shrugged  his  shoulders  and  lit  a  cigarro. 

"  It  is  true,  Excellency,  that  if  any  Tescucan  manu- 
scripts are  yet  entire,  it  can  be  only  because  some 
pagan  Indian  his  risked  death  and  torture  to  hide 
them  in  mud  hut  or  cave  in  the  hills.  The  first  holy 
archbishop  of  Mexico  made  bonfires  of  Indian  books 
because  the  beauty  of  them  showed  plainly  they  were 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  151 


the  work  of  Satan.  Without  doubt  the  act  earned 
the  bishop  an  extra  jewel  for  his  heavenly  crown  1  " 

"  Chico !  If  you  pursue  such  fancies  with  deter- 
mination you  may  end  by  being  a  logician  and  going 
to  hell!  "  remarked  Don  Ruy.  "  I  fear  you  lack  a 
true  Christian  spirit,  my  son.    But  the  records?  " 

"  Only  stone  carved  ones  are  still  visible  in  the 
land  of  Anhuac,"  returned  the  boy.  "  The  good 
padres  say  that  they  deal  with  the  studies  of  the  stars 
and  planets,  and  other  such  speculation  invented  by 
Satanic  power.  When  I  wanted  to  know  about  them 
I  was  told  that  my  soul  was  in  danger  of  the  pit." 

"And  that  frightened  you?" 

"  Very  much,  Excellency  :• — hence  my  running 
away." 

Don  Ruy  was  put  to  it  to  know  whether  or  not  the 
boy  spoke  truth.  But  his  odd  freaks  of  thought  had 
many  times  the  effect  of  an  April  sunlight  on  a  day 
of  storm.  There  was  no  way  of  calculating  what 
the  next  moment  would  bring  —  but  the  unexpected 
was  at  least  a  diversion. 

The  smoking  of  the  men  was  half  over  before 
Padre  Vicente  again  asked  Jose  to  state  that  the  way 
of  life  of  the  Te-hua  people  was  a  thing  of  interest 
to  the  great  king  whom  the  Castilians  served,  and 
it  would  please  him  much  to  hear  more  of  the  Te- 
hua  ruler  who  was  Cacique. 

But  the  old  man  was  silent.  He  had  talked  much, 
he  said. 

"  He  thinks  — "  said  Yahn  with  quick  divination, 
— "  that  he  would  like  to  know  of  the  strangers  who 
are  made  welcome  here :  —  and  why  they  come  far 
into  a  country  not  their  own." 

"  We  come  because  we  have  heard  fair  things  of 


152      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


these  people,"  was  the  reply.  "  Our  god  tells  us 
all  men  are  brothers  on  the  earth  ^— -.  we  come  to  find 
new  brothers." 

"  And  if  the  Navahu  come  in  the  night  —  or  the 
Yutah  come  many  and  strong  for  the  corn  —  whose 
brother  would  your  god  tell  you  to  be  at  that  time?  " 
asked  the  governor  of  Kah-po,  a  tall  shrewd  faced 
old  man  who  had  not  spoken  heretofore.  Chico 
showed  his  teeth  in  a  quickly  suppressed  smile. 

"  Our  god  would  tell  us,"  said  Padre  Vicente  with 
slowness  and  duly  impressive  speech  — "  that  our 
brothers  must  be  the  men  who  are  friends  with  us." 

"  That  is  good,"  agreed  the  man  from  Kah-po, 
and  the  others  said  also  it  was  good.  Brothers  who 
wore  iron  coats  would  be  good  brothers  to  have  in 
the  time  of  a  war. 

"  It  is  as  Tahn-te  told  us  of  the  priests  of  the 
white  god  —  they  are  wise  in  their  thoughts,"  said 
the  old  man  who  had  insisted  there  was  no  king  in 
Povi-whah,  or  any  Te-hua  village  — "  all  Tahn-te 
has  told  us  were  true  words." 

"  He  told  us  also,"  said  the  man  from  Kah-po  — 
"  that  the  men  of  iron  were  not  friends  to  trust." 

"  They  were  other  men  of  iron,  not  these.  These 
men  Tahn-te  has  not  yet  seen." 

The  Padre  gave  no  hint  that  he  knew  enough  of 
Te-hua  words  to  catch  the  meaning  of  their  discourse. 
So  long  as  might  be,  he  would  keep  that  secret, — 
much  might  depend  upon  it. 

The  name  Tahn-te  met  him  at  every  turn  —  this 
was  the  mysterious  Ruler  —  the  hidden  Cacique  or 
Po-Ahtun-ho  —  the  one  chief  who  gave  them  no 
greeting. 

"  Ask  for  me  what  the  name  means  —  the  name 
Tahn-te,"  he  said. 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  153 


Jose  pointed  to  a  ray  of  sunlight  streaming 
through  the  shelter  of  the  vine  trellis. 
"  It  means  that." 

"  And  for  what  cause  is  a  man  called  Light  of 
the  Sun?" 

Jose  did  not  know,  but  when  asked,  the  ancient 
man  spoke. 

"  For  many  reasons,  Those  Above  put  the  thought 
of  the  Sun  in  the  heart  of  the  mother  of  Tahn-te. 
Sunlight  he  was  to  Povi-whah  —  you  shall  see !  " 

A  little  boy  was  carrying  on  his  head  a  flat  basket 
or  tray  of  reeds,  and  on  it  were  rolls  of  bread,  and 
small  melons  for  the  feast;  at  a  few  words  he  set 
down  the  tray,  and  darted  around  a  corner  —  it  was 
a  day  big  in  history  for  him.  He  was  doing  the 
work  of  his  sister  who  had  been  sent  to  the  hills  — 
but  for  this  day  the  work  of  a  girl  was  great  work  — 
it  took  him  so  close  to  the  men  of  iron  that  his  hand 
could  have  touched  one  of  them  —  if  his  courage 
had  not  failed ! 

He  came  back  with  a  jar  of  shining  black  pottery, 
and  placed  it  beside  the  old  man,  who  thrust  his  hand 
within  and  drew  out  a  handful  of  peaches,  dried  in 
the  summer  sun  of  a  year  before. 

"  This  fruit  is  gathered  with  prayer  each  year  from 
the  first  tree  planted  by  the  Summer  People  in  this 
land,"  he  said.  To  Tahn-te  was  given  by  the  gods, 
the  trees,  and  the  seeds  of  the  trees.  Since  the  time 
when  Po-se-yemo  walked  on  earth,  and  brought  seeds, 
no  new  seeds  have  been  born  from  blossoms  here  in 
the  land  of  Te-hua  people.  When  the  gods  send  a 
man,  they  also  send  a  Sign.  The  sign  of  Tahn-te 
was  the  Flute  of  the  Gods,  the  trees  of  this  fruit,  and 
another  fruit;  —  also  a  grain  of  which  food  is  made. 
It  is  a  good  grain.    For  all  of  this  we  make  prayers 


154      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


each  year  when  the  fruit  is  gathered,  and  when  the 
grain  is  planted,  and  for  all  of  this  we  see  why  the 
name  of  the  Sun  has  been  given  to  Tahn-te.  The  old 
men  of  the  Hopi  desert  say  he  was  born  of  the  falling 
rain  and  the  light  of  the  moon.  We  do  not  know, 
but  his  mother  knew,  and  she  is  wise  —  and  she 
named  him  as  a  child  of  the  Sky  would  be  named." 

The  Castilians  listened  with  little  enough  belief 
in  the  god-given  Cacique.  The  peaches  and  the 
grain  had,  without  doubt,  been  brought  by  Coronado. 
Juan  Gonzalvo  said  as  much,  and  Yahn  told  it 
eagerly  to  the  council,  but  the  old  men  shook  their 
heads. 

The  trees  were  a  year  old  from  the  seed  when 
Tahn-te  carried  them  on  his  back  from  the  heart  of 
the  desert,  and  Capitan  Coronado  had  not  yet  seen 
the  villages  of  the  Po-son-ge,  called  by  him  the  Rio 
Grande. 

"  Then :  — "  said  Padre  Vicente  — "  it  is  because 
he  found  new  seeds  that  he  is  above  the  cares  of  the 
daily  life  ?  I  can  bring  many  strange  seeds  from  the 
gardens  of  Europe  or  Africa.  For  that  would  I  be 
a  son  of  the  moon  and  the  stars?  " 

"  May  be  so, — "  said  the  old  man, — "  and  maybe 
so  the  gods  would  not  need  a  son  on  that  day."  He 
inhaled  the  fragrant  smoke  and  went  on  to  make 
clear  to  these  people  of  outlands  some  little  gleam  of 
the  mysteries  circling  holy  things, — "  You  must  be 
born  in  a  good  year  —  and  a  good  time  in  that  year 
■ —  the  trail  of  the  visitors  of  the  sky  must  be  climbing 
up  —  up !  " 

"The  trail  of  the  visitors  in  the  sky?"  The 
Padre  looked  with  quickness  into  the  bronze  faces. 

"  He  means  the  planets  —  the  wandering  stars," 
said  Chico.    "  The  Mexican  tribes  also  watch  them 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  155 


when  a  child  is  born.  A  god  lives  in  each  one  —  so 
they  think!  " 

"  Necromantic  fancies  devised  by  the  Evil  one!  " 
stated  the  priest  and  crossed  himself  to  ostracise  such 
powers  of  the  demon  from  the  circle.  The  rest  de- 
voutedly  imitated  him,  and  the  Te-hua  men  watched 
with  interest  the  men  of  iron  making  their  "  medi- 
cine" against  the  celestial  bodies  on  the  descending 
trail. —  That  slight  automatic  gesture  in  unison 
proved  even  a  sort  of  bond  between  them  and  the 
dusky  old  orator ;  —  he  could  plainly  see  that  the 
signs  in  the  heavens  were  earnestly  regarded  by  the 
white  strangers.  That  showed  they  were  wise  to 
read  the  true  things;  for  that  he  could  tell  them 
more. 

"  The  maid  who  was  mother  to  Tahn-te  is  named 
■The  Woman  of  the  Twilight.  When  little,  the 
spirit  of  her  broke  in  two  —  and  she  went  into  the 
Land  of  Twilight.  Her  parents  could  not  believe 
that  she  would  no  more  walk  on  the  earth.  They 
went  to  the  Po-Ahtun  —  they  sealed  her  to  that 
order  —  so  it  was,  and  the  medicine  prayer  of  the 
Po-Ahtun  brought  back  the  breath  to  her.  But 
when  a  spirit  goes  to  the  Land  of  the  Twilight,  it 
does  not  come  back  at  once  —  not  all  at  once !  The 
gods  are  strong  and  can  do  things.  When  they 
want  to  take  her  again  and  teach  her  hidden  things 
—  they  take  her  I  One  Star  visitor  in  the  sky  took 
her  when  she  became  woman,  and  hid  her  behind  all 
the  hills  until  her  child  moved, —  then,  in  the  far 
desert  where  the  Sun  Father  is  the  great  god,  there 
in  that  place  she  was  laid  on  the  sands  beside  a  well 
that  the  child  be  earth  child  like  other  men.  That 
is  how  it  was,  and  she  knows  why  the  earth  child  was 
called  the  child  of  the  Great  Star,  and  of  the  Sky." 


156      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


Yahn  listened  eagerly  —  and  with  sulky  frown  — 
Neither  she  or  Ka-yemo  had  ever  before  heard  this 
account  of  the  Woman  of  the  Twilight  and  her 
son.  The  magic  of  it  made  her  feel  sullenly  help- 
less. This  then  was  the  reason  why  no  face  smiled 
in  scorn  when  Tahn-te  would  come  sometimes  from 
mesa,  or  canon,  bearing  his  mother  in  his  arms  as 
one  would  bear  a  little  child :  —  all  the  elders  knew 
she  had  been  seeking  the  trail  to  the  Land  of  Twi- 
light where  long  ago  she  had  found  a  god,  and  lost 
herself. 

"  And  this  woman  tells  to  wise  men  a  fable  like 
this — and  is  given  their  faith? "  asked  Padre 
.Vicente,  while  Juan  Gonzalvo  muttered  that  the 
savages  had  stolen  the  truth  of  the  Mother  of  God, 
and  should  be  made  pay  dear  in  good  time,  for  the 
sacrilege ! 

"  The  mouth  of  the  woman  was  sealed,"  stated 
the  narrator.  "  But  the  wise  men  of  the  desert 
sent  men  to  tell  the  Te-hua  people  of  the  magic  of 
the  woman.  And  the  years  and  the  work  of  her 
son  made  good  the  stories  of  the  Hopi  men." 

"  We  have  here  no  mere  juggling  pretender,"  re- 
marked Padre  Vicente  — "  a  Cacique  whose  mother 
establishes  family  connection  with  the  stars  in  the  sky, 
could  in  truth  have  papal  power  among  these  heathen ! 
With  all  their  wise  looks,  and  careful  speech,  these 
old  men  are  not  the  influence  we  have  to  win  for 
progress  in  this  land:  —  this  man  who  would  place 
the  false  gods  above  the  true  God  is  the  man  to  be 
won." 

"  Or  to  be  conquered!"  said  Juan  Gonzalvo 
whose  wonder  was  that  the  priest  had  patience  with 
their  maudlin  tales  of  village  officers,  or  brats  born 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  157 


of  magic  and  the  moon, — "If  I  might  speak  — 
Eminence?  " 

"  Speak  —  my  son." 

"  These  people  have  sent  their  women  away,  and 
have  told  your  reverence  only  of  their  own  things  of 
pride.  Of  their  real  king  they  give  us  no  sight. 
In  the  New  Spain  of  the  South  these  under-men 
would  be  given  few  presents  of  value,  and  not  so 
much  of  your  gracious  time." 

He  spoke  rapidly  with  a  wary  eye  on  the  inter- 
preters,—  only  Jose  could  follow  the  swifter  speech. 

"  Capitan  Gonzalvo  gives  the  word  of  a  soldier, 
Padre,"  remarked  Don  Ruy,  "  and  it  may  be  a  true 
word.  Why  not  give  the  gifts,  and  let  us  see  some- 
what of  the  feast  from  which  we  have  won  these 
dignitaries?  " 

Padre  Vicente  was  agreed,  and  spoke  a  few  words 
to  Jose  who  departed  with  his  wife  for  the  camp. 
The  priest  gave  tobacco,  and  while  the  old  men 
smoked  the  new  medicine,  he  talked  to  Ka-yemo  of 
the  one  religion,  and  the  one  God,  and  that  the  great 
new  god  gave  the  command  to  his  priests  to  go  into 
the  far  lands  and  carry  the  light  of  the  faith  to  his 
children  who  live  in  darkness. 

Ka-yemo  interpreted,  and  the  old  men  nodded 
their  heads  as  if  to  say  that  was  all  good  —  but  it 
was  not  told  for  the  first  time,  and  Don  Ruy  could 
have  sworn  he  saw  the  governor  of  Kah-po  smile 
at  another  man  —  as  one  who  would  question 
whether  they  should  be  considered  as  children.  Don 
Ruy  did  not  know  that  one  man  of  Kah-po  had  been 
among  the  two  hundred  human  torches  making  the 
night  bright  at  Tiguex  by  order  of  advocates  of  that 
same  new  and  holy  god. 


158      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


The  summers  and  winters  since  that  time  had  not 
made  it  all  forgotten  in  the  land  of  the  great  river. 
To  the  Indian  mind  in  general,  it  was  plain  to  be 
seen  that  the  strong  god  of  the  men  of  iron  required 
that  many  victims  be  made  sacrifice  at  one  time.  The 
gods  of  the  Te-hua  people  asked  but  one  sacrifice  at 
one  time,  and  the  knife  of  flint  was  very  sharp,  and 
found  quickly  the  heart,  and  the  spirit  self  was  sent 
quickly  and  with  prayers  over  the  trail  of  the  dusk 
to  the  Light  beyond  the  light. 

Ka-yemo  alone  seemed  enchained  by  the  words  of 
the  priest,  as  he  heard  again  the  words  and  phrases 
belonging  to  that  time  of  which  he  still  dreamed  in 
the  night,  and  awoke  startled  and  alert. 

Yahn  watched  him  with  a  little  frown.  She  did 
not  know  that  the  strongest  power  ever  impressed 
on  his  boyish  mind,  had  been  the  power  of  the  white 
conquerors.  He  had  through  the  years  grown  away 
from  its  influence,  but  at  sight  of  the  robe,  and  the 
cord,  and  the  shiny  black  beads,  it  all  came  back. 
He  felt  the  honor  of  the  fact  that  the  priest  of  that 
strong  god  was  looking  at,  and  talking  only  to  him: 
—  Ka-yemo ! 

His  pride  made  his  eyes  kindle  and  he  was  very 
handsome.  Don  Ruy  wondered  why  Yahn,  his  own 
official  interpreter,  looked  at  him  sideways  with  dis- 
approval. 

Jose  returned  with  his  hands  full  of  the  gifts  for 
which  he  had  been  sent.  There  was  one  for  each 
of  the  men  in  the  group,  and  the  people  of  the  vil- 
lage pressed  close  around  the  door  to  see  them  given 
away. 

Then  Padre  Vicente  stood  up  and  offered  to  the 
governor  of  Povi-whah  a  rosary  like  his  own,  but  of 
brown  beads. 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  159 


"  They  tell  me  that  to  you  requests  are  made  as 
prayers  are  made,  and  that  from  you  they  are  given 
again  to  the  Cacique  for  decision.  We  present  our 
request  and  our  gift.  Tell  him  the  gift  is  one  kings 
have  been  graciously  pleased  to  wear,  and  that  our 
request  is  that  he  meet  us  at  an  early  hour,  that  we 
may  speak  in  kindness  of  many  things." 

"  Tahn-te —  you  call  Cacique  —  is  not  yet  speak- 
ing with  people  out  of  his  order,"  said  Phen-tza,  the 
governor.  "  But  this  can  go,  and  the  message  can 
go,  and  on  another  day  Tahn-te  may  ask  you  to  go 
in  his  door." 

Then  there  were  clasping  of  hands,  and  friendly 
smiles  and  the  visitors  were  free  to  go  or  wander 
about  the  village,  and  watch  the  greetings  of  Jose 
and  the  comrades  of  his  boyhood.  His  wife  Ysobel 
was  caressed  and  admired  by  the  ancient  women  of 
the  tribe,  and  a  garland  of  flowers  placed  on  her 
head.  At  sun  rise  in  the  morning  she  was  to  present 
herself  at  the  door  of  her  new  relatives  for  the  bap- 
tism of  adoption,  and  then  she  would  be  given  also 
a  Te-hua  name. 

Padre  Vicente  and  the  Castilians  were  offered  an 
empty  abode  outside  the  wall.  Despite  the  scowls, 
of  the  Ka-yemo  Yahn  delighted  to  linger  close  as 
might  be  to  Juan  Gonzalvo  while  they  all  walked  to 
inspect  it.  Then  the  Castilian  camp  with  its  won- 
drous animals  was  to  be  visited  by  the  governor  and 
other  Te-hua  men,  and  great  good  feeling  prevailed. 
The  wise  ecclesiastical  head  of  the  cavalcade  had 
asked  nothing  but  gracious  thoughts,  and  the  gifts 
he  brought  had  been  good  gifts. 

Don  Ruy  with  the  secretary,  let  who  might  judge 
of  the  new  camp,  while  he  wandered  in  some  surprise 
past  the  door  ways  decked  with  feast  day  garlands 


160      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


and  above  certain  ones  were  pendent  bits  of  tur- 
quoise as  if  for  ceremonial  marking  of  some  order  or 
some  clan,  and  instead  of  the  blanket  or  arras  there 
were  long  reeds  strung,  and  at  the  end  of  each  string 
a  beaten  twist  of  copper  twinkling  like  bells  when 
stirred  by  any  one  entering  or  leaving  the  dwelling. 

The  dwelling  of  the  dove  cotes  had  a  tiny  inside 
verandah,  and  one  of  the  curious  robes  woven  of 
twisted  rabbit  skins  was  laid  over  a  beam.  Great 
meal  jars  stood  along  the  wall,  and  beside  them  were 
four  melons,  four  full  grained  heads  of  the  bearded 
wheat,  also  four  peaches  and  four  pears.  They  were 
arranged  on  a  great  tray  of  woven  reeds,  and  placed 
without  the  doorway  to  the  right.  The  careful  ar- 
rangement gave  all  significance  of  an  offering  of  the 
first  fruits  on  an  alter.  All  the  other  homes  had 
feasting  and  laughter  and  the  sound  of  gaity  and 
much  life;  at  every  other  door  many  smiling  faces  of 
old  women  and  children  met  them,  and  the  rolls 
of  feast  bread  were  offered,  or  bowls  of  cooked  corn. 
But  here  all  was  silence,  only  the  doves  fluttering 
above  gave  life  to  the  place.  The  reeds  at  the  en- 
trance hung  straight  and  still.  This  entrance  faced 
the  south,  but  there  was  another  towards  the  east 
and  the  river.  The  mysterious  island  of  stone 
called  the  Mesa  of  the  Hearts,  loomed  dark  across  the 
water  and  a  beaten  path  led  from  that  east  door  to 
the  water's  edge.  Don  Ruy  could  see  from  the  bank 
that  a  canoe  was  there  made  from  a  log  hollowed  by 
careful  burnings. 

The  silent  corner  where  the  doves  fluttered,  held 
his  attention  and  he  returned  to  it.  Chico  it  was 
who  stepped  close  to  the  rabbit  skin  robe,  and  saw 
beside  the  melons,  the  ears  of  wheat,  and  the  yet 
green,  unripe  fruit  of  the  pears  and  the  peaches. 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  161 


The  dried  peaches  in  the  jar  shown  them  by  the  old 
Te-hua  man  had  not  given  either  of  them  a  second 
thought,  but  the  two  fruits  grown  from  trees,  and 
the  bearded  wheat  of  the  Mediterranean  arranged  in 
the  basket  with  the  care  given  a  sacred  offering,  was 
a  different  matter.  Don  Ruy  noted  the  staring  eyes 
and  parted  lips  of  the  boy,  and  silently  stepped  nearer 
at  a  gesture. 

Then  they  stared  in  each  others  eyes  as  men  who 
look  on  death  unexpected,  or  witchcraft  —  or  some 
of  the  experiences  of  this  life  for  which  there  are 
no  words,  and  Don  Ruy  laid  his  hand  on  the  shoul- 
der of  the  lad,  and  drew  him  in  silence  out  of  the 
shadow  of  the  roofed  entrance. 

"  It  is  good  to  be  where  the  bright  sun  shows  things 
as  they  are,"  he  decided.  "  The  shadows  and  silence 
of  that  place  tied  the  tongue.  How  feel  you  now, 
Lad,  as  to  the  story  of  Don  Teo  the  Greek  and  the 
seeds  that  were  given  to  the  maid  as  sacred  medi- 
cine?" 

"  But  —  the  man  died  —  so  says  the  padre  — 
and  the  woman  — " 

Then  they  fell  silent  and  each  was  thinking  back 
over  the  trails  of  the  desert,  and  their  company  of 
thirty  men  —  and  the  care  needed  to  find  the  way 
alive  with  all  the  help  of  provisions  and  of  beasts. 

"  The  woman  had  a  greater  journey  and  a  more 
troublous  one," —  said  Don  Ruy.  "  These  are 
clearly  the  fruits  of  Spanish  gardens,  but  in  some 
other  way  have  they  reached  this  land.  It  was  made 
plain  that  the  place  of  the  palms  where  he  left  her 
was  unknown  leagues  towards  the  western  sea,  and 
that  the  maid  could  only  die  in  the  desert." 

"  He  crossed  this  river  in  his  travels  before  he 
saw  the  Indian  maid  of  medicine  charms,"  reminded 


162      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  secretary.  "  Do  you  not  recall  the  journeys  with 
the  war  people?  He  may  have  bestowed  upon 
others  the  seeds  of  other  lands." 

Don  Ruy  drew  a  long  breath,  and  then  laughed. 

"  By  our  Lady !  —  You  bring  joy  with  that 
thought !"  he  said  heartily. —  "I  made  sure  the 
Devil  was  alive  and  was  working  ahead  on  our  trail 
when  my  eyes  were  startled  by  the  offering  of  fruit 
and  grain !  You  looked  as  if  it  might  be  your  own 
hair  was  rising  to  stand  alone!  ;We  are  but  chil- 
dren in  the  dark,  Chico,  and  there  come  times  when 
we  have  fear.  But  your  thought  is  the  right 
thought,  lad.  Of  a  certainty  he  crossed  this  country; 
that  there  is  no  record  is  not  so  strange  a  thing  ■ — -  he 
was  only  another  brown  savage  among  many  1  " 

They  spoke  together  of  the  strangeness  of  their 
findings  in  the  village  —  and  its  exceeding  good  ar- 
rangement with  ladders  to  draw  above  in  case  of  at- 
tack, and  only  one  house  —  that  of  the  doves  and  the 
fruit  —  into  which  one  could  walk  from  the  court. 
All  the  others  were  as  in  the  other  villages  —  ter- 
races, and  the  first  terrace  had  doors  only  in  the  roof 
so  that  a  blank  adobe  wall  faced  the  court  and  tha 
curious.  Each  great  house  with  rooms  by  the  score, 
and  its  height  from  two  to  five  stories,  was  the  home 
of  many,  and  a  fort  in  case  of  need. 

While  they  commented  on  these  things,  two  men 
came  running  swiftly  through  the  gate  from  the 
Castilian  camp.  One  was  Jose,  and  it  was  Po-tzah 
who  ran  beside  him.  They  went  straight  to  the 
house  of  the  dove  cote,  and  Jose  waited  without 
while,  after  a  few  eager  hurried  words,  the  other 
slipped  behind  the  twinkling  arras  of  river  reeds  and 
shells. 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  163 


"What  now?"  asked  Don  Ruy  coming  up,  and 
Jose  showed  fear  at  first  and  then  spoke. 

"  It  is  your  own  horse  to  which  it  has  happened, 
Excellency,"  he  said.  "  The  padre  say  it  is  not  the 
fault  of  any  one,  for  the  bush  is  high  there,  and  who 
could  see  through  them  ?  But  it  is  the  snake  —  the 
one  you  say  has  the  castanets  in  the  tail,  and  it  has 
put  the  poison  in  the  foot  of  your  horse !  " 

Don  Ruy  swore  an  oath  that  was  half  a  prayer, 
and  the  pert  secretary  did  the  first  thing  that  was 
familiar  since  he  was  seen  with  the  company  —  he 
laid  his  hand  on  Don  Ruy's  shoulder  and  felt  that 
the  horse  lost  was  as  a  brother  lost,  and  Chico  had 
a  fancy  of  his  own  to  caress  it,  and  even  burnish  the 
silver  of  his  bridle. 

"And  —  why  come  you  here  to  this  house?" 

"  Here  is  the  one  man  who  knows  the  ways  of  the 
snake  —  if  he  is  not  in  prayer  they  think  he  may 
come  —  but  not  any  man  can  know  what  the  Po- 
'Ahtun-ho  may  do  —  and  the  horse  beautiful  may  die 
on  our  first  day  in  Povi-whah !  " 

But  the  reeds  with  their  copper  and  shell  tassels 
tinkled,  and  Don  Ruy  looked  to  see  the  old  medicine 
man  of  spells  and  charms  come  forth. 

He  saw  a  man  young  as  himself  and  more  tall. 
[Almost  naked  he  was,  with  only  the  white  banda  in 
which  was  a  blue  bird's  feather  —  the  girdle  and 
moccasins.  One  glance  he  gave  Don  Ruy  and  his 
companion,  bent  his  head  ever  so  little  in  acknowl- 
edgement of  their  presence,  and  then  ran  beside  his 
friend  Po-tzah  with  the  easy  stride  of  the  trained 
runner.  Whatever  his  knowledge  of  the  snake  might 
be,  he  waited  for  no  words,  but  moved  quickly. 

Many  men  were  about  the  animal  and  Don 


164      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


Diego  had  bound  tightly  a  cord  of  rawhide  about  the 
knee,  and  water  was  being  poured  on  the  foot.  But 
Te-hua  and  Castillian  alike  stood  aside  as  the  swift 
nude  figure  came  among  them  —  and  without  word 
or  question  went  straight  to  the  hurt  animal. 

The  other  natives  had  approached  the  four-footed 
creatures  with  a  certain  curiosity  —  if  not  awe,  and 
there  had  been  more  than  a  little  scattering  of  prayer 
meal  when  the  mules  were  hobbled.  The  braying 
of  one  of  them  had  caused  terror  in  the  hearts  of  the 
older  men. 

But  this  man  took  no  heed  of  the  groups  of  men  or 
of  animals.  He  led  the  injured  steed  out  of  the  pool 
of  water,  and  with  a  knife  of  the  black  flint  cut  the 
bandage  —  to  the  extreme  distaste  of  Don  Diego,  who 
had  been  chief  surgeon. 

Then,  still  without  words  to  the  people,  he  did  a 
strange  thing,  for  he  knelt  there  on  the  ground  and 
leaned  his  shoulder  against  the  leg  of  the  horse,  and 
slipped  slowly,  slowly  down  until  his  cheek  touched 
the  pastern,  and  his  strong  slender  hands  slid  down- 
ward again  and  again  over  the  leg  of  the  animal 
while  his  lips  moved  as  though  in  whispered  speech 
to  the  ground  itself. 

No  man  spoke  for  a  long  time,  but  some  of  the 
elder  men  cast  prayer  meal  that  it  fell  on  the  kneeling 
savage  and  on  the  horse,  and  the  animal  reached 
down  and  rubbed  its  nose  on  his  shoulder  as  if  he  had 
been  its  well  known  and  long  beloved  master. 

Curious  were  all  the  Castilians,  but  Juan  Gon- 
zalvo,  who  had  spent  time  in  speech  with  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh,  was  more  than  curious.  Oke  a  tiger  cat 
above  its  prey  he  stood  frowning  at  the  silent  "  med- 
icine "  of  the  naked  worker  in  devilish  arts. 


COMING  OF  THE  CASTILIANS  165 


Then  the  kneeling  man  arose  and  spoke  in  Castil- 
lian. 

"  It  is  good,"  he  said.  "  It  is  done,"  but  he  did 
not  lift  his  eyes  from  the  ground.  The  task  of  some 
prayer  was  yet  unfinished  —  and  he  turned  again  to- 
wards his  home  and  walked  swiftly  and  the  horse 
followed  him  until  Juan  Gonzalvo  caught  it  and  gave 
careful  heed  to  the  stricken  foot,  and  could  see  no 
sign  where  the  swelling  should  be. 

"  It  is  big  medicine,"  said  the  Te-hua  men.  "  Now 
our  brothers,  the  strangers  have  seen  that  our  god  is 
strong  and  our  men  to  work  are  strong." 

"  It  is  sorcery  of  the  devil,"  said  Juan  Gonzalvo. 
"  Some  medicine  he  had  in  his  hands  —  some  medi- 
cine we  could  not  see.  No  physician  in  all  Europe 
has  skill  to  cure  by  such  magic.  Is  it  like  that  a 
naked  savage  should  know  more  than  the  learned 
professors?  " 

"  No :  —  it  is  not  to  be  believed,"  assented  Don 
Ruy  — "  but  thanks  to  the  Saints  it  is  true  for  all 
that !  —  and  that  silent  youth  is  after  all  Tahn-te  the 
Cacique !  " 

"  No  — "  said  Padre  Vicente  with  decision  — "  the 
sooner  that  office  is  no  longer  his  the  sooner  do  we 
arrive  at  that  which  brought  us  here.  That  is 
Tahn-te  the  worker  in  accursed  red  magic  —  Tahn-te 
the  sorcerer !  " 


CHAPTER  XIII 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL 

LITTLE  else  was  spoken  of  in  the  camp  of  the 
Castilians,  but  the  witchcraft  of  the  noble 
steed.  The  more  pious  picketed  their  own 
animals  at  a  respectful  distance  from  the  one  healed 
by  sorcery. 

Don  Diego  took  the  healing  as  a  sign  that  the 
Evil  One  walked  openly  between  the  rows  of  the 
adobe  dwellings,  and  that  the  field  camp  was  a  safer 
haven  than  a  house  whose  every  corner  was,  without 
doubt,  a  matter  of  unsanctified  prayer  in  the  building. 

Others  there  were  who  had  grown  weary  of  drench- 
ings  of  summer  rains,  and  Yahn,  hearing  their  argu- 
ments, warned  them  that  old  Khen-yah  the  rain  priest 
was  making  medicine  for  more  corn  rains  —  they 
could  easily  hear  his  tombe  if  they  but  hearkened. 

"  That  we  can  easily  do  without  any  strain  to  our 
ears,"  agreed  Don  Ruy — "but  what  of  that?  Is  a 
piece  of  hide  tied  around  a  hollow  log  to  serve  as 
thunder  from  which  the  rain  must  come,  whether  or 
no?" 

The  girl  did  not  grasp  his  raillery  and  liked  it 
little.  When  Don  Ruy  spoke  to  her  —  or  spoke  of 
her,  she  felt  she  was  being  laughed  at.  Only  her 
determination  to  be  in  some  way  a  power  through 
these  strange  people,  kept  her  from  betraying  her 
anger. 

"  The  rain  comes,"  she  stated  coldly.  "  The 
drum  of  Khen-yah  never  rests  in  quiet  until  it  does 

166 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  167 


come.  One  night  and  one  day  he  has  made  medicine 
—  soon  it  must  come." 

"  Then  I  cast  my  vote  for  the  cover  of  a  solid 
roof,  gentlemen,"  decided  Don  Ruy.  "  Tve  had  one 
taste  of  their  red  magic  —  it  was  speedy  and  effec- 
tual. If  the  old  magician  should  decide  to  send  us  a 
flood,  the  sorcery  would  not  be  so  much  to  my  liking." 

After  some  further  discourse  all  agreed  to  accept 
the  offered  dwelling,  though  Don  Diego  warned  Don 
Ruy  it  was  unwise  to  speak  in  so  light  a  manner  of 
the  power  of  the  Evil  One  when  it  was  rampant  in 
the  land.  Already  he  had  taken  up  the  valiant  battle 
for  converts.  His  success  was  gratifying  in  that  one 
woman  had  without  understanding,  yet  with  pleasur- 
able smiles  listened  to  the  credo,  and  had  accepted 
with  equal  gratification  a  string  of  blue  beads  of  glass, 
and  a  rosary. —  It  was  Sah-pah.  She  had  found 
courage  to  slip  alone  into  the  camp  while  Yahn  talked 
in  the  village.  After  the  little  matter  of  the  beads 
she  at  once  became  as  a  shadow  to  Don  Diego,  who 
had  great  confidence  of  leading  her  away  from  her 
false  gods.  When  he  stated  his  pious  hope  to  the 
official  interpreter  of  Don  Ruy,  that  damsel  seemed 
little  gifted  with  the  devout  apprehension  or  sisterly 
affection  so  much  to  be  desired  in  females.  She  was 
angry  because  of  the  blue  beads,  and  later,  when  the 
sulkiness  had  departed  enough  that  her  tongue  found 
again  its  right  usage,  she  stated  that  the  pious  Don 
Diego  would  find  little  trouble  in  leading  Sah-pah  to 
any  place  he  chose » — « nor  would  any  other  man  who 
wanted  a  convert ! 

Whereupon  the  eager  and  pious  gentleman  gave 
thanks  —  let  the  others  discuss  civil  or  ecclesiastical 
rule  among  the  savage  people  —  or  even  risk  their 
souls  in  dealings  with  sorcerers,  but  he  had  made  the 


168      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


only  convert  on  this  first  day,  and  thus  it  was  recorded 
by  the  secretary  on  the  first  page  of  the  "  Relaciones  " 
pertaining  to  the  chapters  of  Povi-whah,  in  that  part 
of  the  "  Province  of  New  Spain  in  the  Indian  Island 
which  is  refreshed  by  the  majestical  stream  called  in 
the  savage  language  Po-son-ge,  but  the  same  called  by 
the  Castilians  the  Rio  Bravo  and  the  Rio  Grande 
del  Norte." 

Yahn  Tsyn-deh  took  with  all  seriousness  her  office 
as  an  adjunct  of  the  Castilian  camp,  and  Ka-yemo 
who  also  gave  help  in  the  tradings  for  corn,  and  for 
wood,  and  the  various  needs  of  the  camp,  found  her 
there  always  except  when  she  slept,  and  he  went  back 
and  forth  like  a  tethered  beast,  and  dared  not  com- 
mand her.  He  had  not  thought  about  her  except  to 
laugh  in  anger  ever  since  a  dawn  when  he  had  walked 
out  of  her  dwelling  because  of  her  witch's  temper  and 
her  tongue  of  a  fiend :  —  and  that  day  he  had  gone 
straight  as  the  ravens  fly,  to  the  house  of  his  oldest 
relative,  and  told  him  he  wished  to  be  married  as 
early  as  might  be  to  Koh-pe,  the  daughter  of  Tsa-fah. 
Then  to  the  wilderness  he  had  gone  hunting,  leaving 
all  of  trouble  behind  him  while  the  two  clans  made 
the  marriage. —  When  he  came  back  again  to  his 
people  all  was  decided  —  and  he  laughed  loud  in  the 
face  of  Yahn  —  and  passed  her  by,  and  carried  fresh 
killed  rabbits  to  the  door  of  Koh-pe. 

That  was  how  it  had  ended  between  them.  Not 
once  afterwards  had  he  spoken  to  her  until  he  met  her 
as  she  walked  triumphant  and  very  proud  beside  the 
Castilians  at  the  gateway.  Triumphant  and  very 
proud  did  she  continue  to  walk,  and  insolent  were  her 
eyes  when  she  let  them  rest  on  the  husband  of  Koh-pe. 
In  vain  he  talked  to  the  governor  that  she  might  be 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  169 


banished  with  the  other  women  who  were  young. 
Ka-yemo  found  himself  laughed  at  by  the  Te-hua 
men;  —  was  he  angry  because  the  Castilian  capitan 
of  war  could  give  the  girl  beads  of  red  shell  and 
bracelets  of  white  metal  —  while  he  —  Ka-yemo  — 
had  not  given  her  even  meat  from  the  hunt  all  those 
summers  and  winters  when  she  had  been  his  love? 

So  the  men  laughed  —  and  told  him  each  new 
gift  given  to  the  one  woman  who  knew  Castillian 
words  —  and  he  laughed  also  as  one  does  who  cares 
little,  but  in  his  heart  was  growing  rage  such  as  he 
had  never  known  could  be  in  him.  The  man  who 
was  sentinel  of  Povi-whah  while  the  stars  shone  was 
visited  in  the  night  by  Ka-yemo  the  chief  of  war, 
and  the  governor  Phen-tsa  was  well  pleased  when  he 
heard  it.  To  be  married  had,  he  thought,  made  a 
stronger  man  of  Ka-yemo,  for  never  before  had  he 
watched  with  the  sentinel  through  the  night,  except 
the  nights  of  the  young  moon  when  it  was  part  of  his 
work  to  watch,  and  to  make  reports  of  the  things  in 
the  sky  to  the  Po-Ahtun-ho. 

And  no  one  guessed  that  while  his  visit  to  the 
sentinel  on  the  highest  terrace  had  been  brief  —  his 
walks  past  the  dwelling  of  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  had  been 
many,  and  first  and  last  had  he  halted  and  lay  flat  on 
the  roof  and  put  his  soul  into  his  ears  to  know  that  she 
slept  soundly,  and  —  alone ! 

Then,  angry  in  his  heart  with  everybody  —  he  went 
to  the  kiva  of  his  clan  where  all  the  boys  and  the  men 
slept  —  and  the  sun  was  high  and  even  the  youngest 
boy  had  gone  out  to  eat  before  he  wakened  and 
looked  on  the  world.  When  he  did  so  he  found  that 
many  visitors  were  abroad.  From  Po-ho-ge  —  and 
Oj-ke  —  and  Na-im-be  and  even  far  Ui-la-ua  were 


170      ,THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 

men  sent  by  council  as  if  to  a  feast.  The  presence 
of  all  these  men  meant  that  they  burned  to  know  why 
the  men  of  iron  had  come  to  the  North. 

They  all  spoke  first  with  the  governor,  as  was 
courtesy,  and  then  on  his  good  report  of  their  good 
intent  —  they  all  approached  the  door  of  the  Castil- 
ians,  where  smiles  and  greetings  were  exchanged, 
and  those  who  breathed  on  the  hand  of  the  ad- 
venturers were  asked  also  to  kiss  the  silver  figure  on 
the  cross  of  the  padre,  which  they  did  with  all  courtesy 
since  their  hosts  required  it,  and  then  with  smoke  to 
the  pagan  gods  of  the  four  ways,  they  all  entered 
into  converse  of  great  intent,  though  the  meanings 
at  times  were  not  so  clearly  understood  each  by  the 
other,  for  all  the  help  of  Jose  and  of  Yahn. 

To  tell  an  Indian  that  the  Sacred  Four  Ways  means 
not  anything  to  the  greatest  of  all  gods,  is  a  thing  of 
confusion,  more  especially  so  when  told  that  a  sacred 
three  is  the  real  combination  by  which  entrance  to 
the  paradise  of  an  after  life  is  made  beyond  all  ques- 
tion a  thing  oc  certainty. 

To  the  adventurer  of  the  16th  century  dire  mis- 
haps were  to  be  expected  if  the  Faith  was  not  thus 
clearly  borne,  and  set  plainly  before  the  heathen. 
Let  him  reject  it  if  he  choose,  and  die  the  absolute 
death  of  body  and  soul  for  such  rejection, —  let  the 
search  for  gold  or  jewel  be  postponed  as  may  be,  bu 
the  first  duty  under  authority  civil  or  ecclesiastic 
must  be  the  duty  to  the  faith  in  the  One  God  and 
Him  crucified :  —  it  opened  the  portal  in  a  god-fear- 
ing, orthodox  manner  to  any  traffic  deemed  of  advan- 
tage to  the  adventurers  who  bore  the  faith,  and  the 
cross;  —  on  the  hilts  of  swords! 
*  The  visitors  listened  with  ceremonial  courtesy  to 
the  words  of  the  padre      and  heard  of  the  glories 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST!  IN  COUNCIL  171 


of  the  great  Castilian  king,  the  chosen  of  God  — 
the  pure  and  undefiled,  and,  of  the  still  greater  mon- 
arch above  the  skies,  served  by  this  king  and  by  all 
righteous  people  to  all  ends  of  the  earth. 

In  reply  to  which  godly  disquisition,  the  spokesman 
of  Na-im-be  and  Te-tzo-ge  invited  the  followers  of 
the  True  God  to  a  feast  where  only  strong  men  could 
come.  The  women  of  the  dance  in  that  feast  were 
strong  and  were  young.  Four  days  would  the  dance 
and  the  feast  last.  The  padre  who  spoke  for  the 
high  god  could  choose  which  of  his  men  could  enter 
the  dance  for  that  time. 

The  padre  heard  without  special  wonder,  he  had 
known  many  primitive  people;  but  Don  Diego  was 
lost  in  amaze  as  the  details  were  spelled  clearly  for 
his  understanding. 

"  It  is  worship  of  Pan  driven  out  of  Greek  temples 
to  find  lodging  in  this  wilderness !  "  and  he  crossed 
himself  with  persistence  and  energy,  and  marvelled 
at  the  quiet  of  Padre  Vicente.  Or,  "  it  is  the  an- 
cient devils  of  Babylon  to  which  these  heathen  give 
worship  —  Saint  Dominec  hear  them !  They 
would  instruct  their  very  gods  in  creation !  — 
Blasphemy  most  damnable !  — =  Blasphemy  against  the 
Ghost  I" 

Whereupon  he  went  in  search  of  his  secretary  to 
make  record  of  the  abomination,  and  found  that 
youth  witnessing  the  pagan  baptism  by  which  Ysobel 
was  made  a  daughter  of  her  husband's  clan  —  each 
way  he  turned  he  found  primitive  rites  bewildering 
and  endless!  All  work  done  was  done  in  prayer  to 
their  false  gods.  From  the  blessing  of  the  seed  corn 
laid  away  in  the  husk,  until  the  time  when  it  was  put 
in  the  earth, —  and  the  first  ear  ready  for  the  roasting 
fire  —  at  each  and  every  stage  he  was  told  of  special 


172       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


ceremonies  required, —  and  as  with  the  corn,  so  with 
the  human  plant  —  at  each  distinctive  stage  in  the 
growth  of  a  man  or  woman  child,  open  ceremonial 
thanks  was  given  to  their  deities  whose  names  were 
too  depraved  for  any  Christian  man  to  remember. 

Where  the  pious  Senor  Brancedori  had  expected 
a  virgin  field  for  a  wondrous  mission,  he  found  an 
ancient  province  with  ceremonies  complicated  as  any 
of  ancient  Hebrew  or  Greek  tradition.  Each  little 
toddler  of  the  clan  put  forth  a  baby  hand  to  touch  the 
head  of  Ysobel  in  sign  of  welcome,  and  one  woman 
came  whose  brow  was  marked  with  pinon  gum  —  and 
he  was  told  that  the  sign  was  that  of  maternity;  — 
all  who  were  to  be  mothers  must  wear  a  prayer  symbol 
to  the  Maiden  Mother  of  the  god  who  was  born  of  a 
dream  in  the  shadow  of  the  pinon  tree ! 

"  Do  I  myself  dream  while  wide  awake,  or  do  I 
hear  this  thing?"  he  demanded  of  Jose,  in  sore  dis- 
tress to  divide  the  false  from  the  true,  and  impress 
the  last  on  those  well  satisfied  minds.  "  Is  it  mir- 
acles as  well  as  sorcery  their  misled  magicians  make 
jugglery  of?  When  did  this  thing  happen  of  which 
the  shameless  wenches  parade  the  symbol  ?" 

Yahn  asked  of  an  aged  Te-hua  man  the  question, 
and  the  man  squatted  in  the  sun  and  began  ceremoni- 
ously : 

"  Han-na-di  Set-en-dah-nhf  It  was  in  the  ancient 
day  when  the  people  yet  abode  in  the  cliff  dwellings 
of  the  high  land.  It  was  the  time  of  the  year  when 
the  stars  danced  for  the  snow,  and  as  the  time  of  the 
Maid-Mother  came  close,  the  sun  hid  his  face  a  little 
more  each  day,  and  the  longest  night  of  all  the  nights 
in  the  year  was  the  time  of  that  birth  of  the  god 
Po-se-yemo.  The  sun  went  away  on  the  south  trail 
and  would  not  look  on  the  earth  until  the  god-child 


rA  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  173 


was  born,  for  the  Maid-Mother  was  much  troubled, 
and  the  sun  was  sad  because  of  her  trouble.  That 
is  how  it  was,  and  each  year  the  people  remember 
that  time,  and  make  ready  for  the  twilight  trail  if 
the  god  in  the  sun  should  not  come  again  from  the 
south, —  but  each  time  the  sun  god  listens  to  the 
prayers  and  comes  back  and  all  are  very  glad.  Hari- 
ri a-di  Set-en-dah-nh!  " 

Maestro  Diego  seated  himself  in  a  disconsolate 
mood  at  this  artifice  of  Satan  thus  to  engraft  heathen 
rubbish  on  the  childish  minds  of  the  natives:  —  for 
that  they  did  lean  on  that  faith  the  mark  of  the 
pirion  symbol  was  a  witness  before  his  eyes !  It  was 
a  thing  to  dishearten  even  a  true  believer,  and  he 
feared  much  that  Padre  Vicente  passed  over  many 
signs  of  the  devil  worship  each  hour  —  not  realizing 
that  it  must  be  dug  out,  root  and  branch,  ere  the 
planting  of  the  cross  would  mean  aught  but  the  Ways 
of  the  Four  Winds  to  these  brown  builders  of  stone 
and  mortar,  and  weavers  of  many  clothes ! 

Juan  Gonzalvo  found  him  there  disconsolate. 

"  Not  any  wondrous  thing  of  the  Blessed  Twelve 
can  you  recite  to  the  animals  and  win  even  a  surprise," 
he  lamented  to  this  pious  comrade  in  the  cause. — "  To 
tell  them  that  the  eye  of  their  creator  watches  them 
from  the  skies  is  to  bring  only  a  retort  that  the  great 
god  has  as  many  eyes  as  the  stars  —  and  sees  through 
all  of  them  at  once !  Their  deceitful  visions  are  such 
that  even  the  miracles  make  naught  of  wonder  in  their 
darkened  souls.  They  are  not  of  doubting  minds 
like  to  Thomas  the  tardy !  —  they  accept  all  the  rec- 
ords of  the  Faith  as  they  would  accept  a  good  dinner 
—  and  then  tell  you  that  the  fair  victuals  in  the  pot 
had  been  cooked  by  themselves  time  out  of  mind  in 
a  different,  and  more  seasonable  way!  Everything 


174      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


but  Satan  himself  do  they  believe,  him  they  deny 
previous  acquaintance  with  until  told  by  me  of  his 
reality !  —  but  in  secret  there  is  not  any  doubt  that 
they  do  give  him  worship  since  he  of  course  inspires 
their  devilish  heresies.  Padre  Vicente  has  the  work 
of  a  saint  facing  him  in  this  place,  since  only  a  miracle 
can  make  them  Christian  men !  " 

Gonzalvo  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  good  padre 
was  disturbed  over  temporal  things  requiring  prayer 
and  thought.  Between  their  visitors  of  the  morn- 
ing, discourse  had  been  made  of  the  fruitless  quest  of 
Capitan  Coronado  for  the  smile  of  the  sun  which  be- 
came yellow  metal  in  the  earth.  It  was  secret  speech, 
for  neither  of  the  interpreters  had  disclosed  it.  The 
quick  ear  of  Padre  Vicente  had  caught  the  meaning. 
Also  the  visitors  from  other  villages  were  plainly 
here  to  see  what  action  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  of  Povi-whah 
was  to  take,  and  there  were  some  who  deemed  him 
too  youthful  to  be  a  leader  —  which  the  padre  gave 
agreement  to.  Also  it  was  clear  to  his  reverence 
that  the  youthful  magician  was  the  guardian  of  the 
gold,  and  must  in  some  way  be  bought  or  mastered. 

While  they  talked,  and  weighed  as  might  be  the 
complications  to  be  met,  a  messenger  from  the  gover- 
nor came  to  them,  and  touched  them  with  a  slender 
wand  of  office  that  they  follow  him.  As  they  did 
so,  Jose  came  to  them,  and  said  that  at  last  it  was 
plain  the  Cacique  meant  to  see  both  red  and  white 
visitors  in  the  kiva  of  the  Po-Ahtun.  No  secret 
things  could  be  spoken  to  him, —  all  must  hear  the 
talk  with  the  strangers!  Jose  was  to  go,  and 
Ka-yemo  the  war  chief,  every  one  who  knew  both 
Te-hua  and  Castilian  words  —  every  one  was  to  go 
but  the  damsel  Yahn  Tsyn-deh. 

The  governor  and  the  Ka-yemo  appeared  dressed 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  175 


in  their  most  gorgeous  robes  of  fur,  feathers,  and 
painted  skins.  Also  Ka-yemo  wore  much  of  the 
wealth  of  his  wife  in  shell  beads  about  his  neck. 

Taking  a  timely  hint,  Don  Ruy  appeared  in  un- 
usual magnificence.  He  carried  the  standard  of  Spain 
and  walked  beside  the  padre  who  bore  the  cross. 
Behind  them  came  Chico  the  secretary  bearing  the 
embroidered  vest  and  cap  of  Don  Diego  with  which 
they  made  him  grand  when  they  discovered  him  on 
the  way. 

Half  the  Castilians  marched  in  order  in  the  rear 
and  formed  for  guard  at  a  respectful  distance  under 
Capitan  Gonzalvo.  Seeing  that  all  was  well,  he 
mounted  the  steps  to  the  roof,  and  was  the  last  to 
descend  into  the  sanctuary. 

One  Te-hua  sentinel  stood  on  guard  for  his  people 
at  the  place  of  council,  and  the  serene  life  of  the 
village  went  on  as  if  no  mail  clad  men  were  within 
its  walls,  only  the  children  who  were  small,  and  the 
boys  who  were  curious,  loitered  close  and  wondered 
of  what  the  men  of  the  beards  wove  their  armor,  for 
the  water  bottles  woven  of  reeds  and  plastered  with 
gum  of  the  pinon  had  that  same  glazed  surface. 
Strange  things  must  grow  where  these  men  grew ! 

In  the  circle  of  the  council  home  it  was  an  impres- 
sive line  of  men  who  faced  each  other  in  silence. 
Chico  half  in  earnest,  announced  in  a  whisper  to  Don 
Ruy  that  the  ladder  of  the  entrance  would  be  his 
choice  of  a  seat;  —  so  as  to  be  nearest  the  outside 
world  in  case  of  trouble. 

Shadowy  it  was  in  the  great  room  where  only  the 
way  of  the  sky  gave  light,  and  the  only  seat  was  that 
built  around  the  wall  —  and  to  Don  Ruy  was  like  to 
pictures  of  the  old  Roman  ruins.  The  walls  were 
white,  and  there  were  lines  and  strange  symbols  in 


176      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


pale  green,  and  in  yellow :  —  the  colors  of  the  Sum- 
mer People.  An  altar  of  stone  was  directly  under 
the  ladder,  and  the  light  from  above  fell  on  the  ter- 
raced back  of  it  —  typifying  the  world  of  valley,  and 
mesa,  and  highest  level.  A  ceremonial  bowl  of  red 
ware  echoed  this  form  on  its  four  terraced  sides.  It 
held  white  and  yellow  pollen,  and  the  sacred  corn  of 
four  colors  formed  a  cross  with  the  bowl  as  a  center ; 
—  all  this  was  placed  before  the  statue  of  a  seated 
god  carved  from  red  stone.  The  arms  were  folded 
and  the  pose  was  serene  —  waiting !  But  as  fragrant 
bark  was  tossed  on  the  sacred  fire  below  him, —  and 
a  flame  awoke  for  a  moment,  the  eyes  reflected  the 
light  in  a  startling  way  —  as  though  alive!  Then 
the  strangers  saw  that  the  eyes  were  of  iridescent 
shell  set  in  the  carven  stone, —  and  more  strange  than 
all  was  the  fact  that  the  god  of  the  altar  was  a  weep- 
ing god,  and  the  tear  under  each  eye  was  also  of  the 
strange  shell  mosaic.  It  was  the  Earth-Born  God 
who  had  been  driven  out  by  the  proud  hearts  of  the 
Lost  Others.  Weeping,  he  waited  the  Sign  in  the 
Sky  by  which  he  was  to  return.  His  name  meant 
Dew  of  Heaven  —  and  the  Dew  and  the  Sun  must 
work  together  for  the  best  life  of  growing  things,  and 
of  human  things. 

Among  all  the  swart  elderly  faces  it  was  an  easy 
matter  to  pick  the  man  who  had  given  back  to  him 
the  steed.  The  eyes  of  Don  Ruy  sought  him  eagerly, 
and  more  than  ever  wondered  at  the  youth  of  him, 
and  the  countenance  fairer  than  many  a  Castilian  of 
their  land.  The  other  glimpses  of  him  had  been  brief, 
and  when  kneeling  by  the  horse,  his  face  had  been  all 
but  hidden. 

He  wore  no  ceremonial  festive  garb  as  did  the 
others.    The  white  robe  of  deerskin  was  folded  about 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  177 


him,  and  he  gave  no  heed  to  the  different  visitors  who 
entered.  His  eyes  were  on  the  floor  as  though  in 
meditation,  and  in  silence  he  accepted  the  sacred 
smoke,  and  then  glanced  towards  the  place  where  the 
governor  sat  always  when  in  council.  After  that  one 
little  look  there  was  no  longer  silence.  The  padre, 
watching  the  impassive  young  face,  observed  that  one 
glance  was  all  that  was  required  of  command.  And 
the  governor  of  Povi-whah  arose  and  spoke. 

He  told  to  the  brothers  and  neighbors  of  the  com- 
ing, and  the  kindly  coming,  of  the  Castilians  to  bring 
back  in  safety  one  Te-hua  man  who  had  been  carried 
far  south  as  a  slave.  The  man  of  the  grey  robe  was 
the  priest  of  the  Castilian  god,  and  that  god  had 
sent  him  to  say  that  all  men  must  be  brothers,  with 
the  god  in  the  sky  for  a  father.  These  new  brothers 
brought  good  gifts  and  tokens  from  their  king.  The 
king  said  his  children  would  also  help  fight  the  wild 
Apache  and  Navahu  and  Yutah  in  the  day  when  they 
came  to  kill  and  take  captives. 

Smiles  went  over  many  faces  in  the  circle.  Nods 
of  approval  gave  good  hope  for  the  Castilian  cause. 

Then  the  governor  of  Kah-po  arose. 

This  coming  of  the  strange  brothers  was  good,  he 
agreed.  It  was  much  for  nothing.  How  many 
fields  for  corn  would  the  Castilian  brothers  ask  for 
such  help  in  battle  ? 

The  padre  lifted  the  cross,  and  stood  up,  and  the 
Castilians  knelt  on  the  stone  floor  with  heads  low 
bowed. 

"  Of  fields  of  mortal  man  we  ask  no  more  than  the 
corn  we  eat  — "  he  said  — "  but  the  great  god  decreed 
that  each  soul  for  salvation  must  be  written  by  the 
priest  in  the  great  record.  Baptism  must  they  ac- 
cept,—  and  new  prayers  to  the  true  god  must  they 


178      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


learn.  Out  of  the  far  land  Had  the  true  god  made 
the  trail  that  the  faith  be  carried  to  the  Te-hua  people. 
Under  the  cross  he  wished  to  give  the  sacrament  of 
baptism. 

The  kneeling  Castilians  impressed  the  pagan  men 
more  than  might  have  been  hoped.  They  were  strong 
—  yet  they  were  as  bidden  children  under  that  Symbol. 
It  was  big  medicine !  Ka-yemo  found  his  own  head 
bowed  lower  and  lower  —  the  spell  of  the  older  days 
was  working!  — when  he  lifted  his  eyes,  it  was  to  see 
the  brief  glance  of  Tahn-te  rest  on  him.  He  sat 
erect  again  as  though  a  spoken  command  was  in  that 
look.  All  this  saw  Don  Ruy,  and  all  this  saw  the 
padre,  and  his  teeth  locked  close  under  his  beard. 

Many  were  the  exchange  of  thought  over  faiths 
old  and  faiths  new  in  the  land,  also  of  the  ancient 
republics,  the  Pueblos,  and  the  interest  of  the  ma- 
jestic ruler  who  was  king  of  Spain  and  the  Indies  was 
made  manifest  by  his  subjects.  Of  many  things  did 
they  speak  until  all  the  old  men  had  spoken,  and  it 
was  plain  to  be  seen  that  the  Castilians  were  not  un- 
welcome. The  winning  courtesy  of  Don  Ruy  made 
many  friends,  and  the  wise  brain  of  the  padre  made 
no  mistakes.  Yet  of  the  one  central  cause  of  the 
quest  not  any  one  had  spoken,  and  the  silent  Cacique 
had  only  designated  by  a  glance  or  a  motion  of  the 
hand  who  was  to  be  the  next  spokesman.  He  was 
the  youngest  of  all,  and  he  waited  to  listen. 

Then,  when  the  smoke  had  been  long,  and  silence 
had  been  long,  Tahn-te  the  wearer  of  the  white  robe 
arose.  For  a  space  he  stood  with  folded  arms 
wrapped  in  the  mantle  of  high  office,  and  quietly  let 
his  gaze  rest  on  one  after  another  of  those  in  the  circle, 
halting  last  at  Ka-yemo  whose  glance  fell  under  his 
own  —  and  whose  head  bent  as  under  accusation. 


Page  179 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  179 


Tahn-te  smiled,  but  it  was  not  a  glad  smile  —  he 
had  seen  that  the  old  magic  of  the  gray  robe  was 
holding  the  war  chief  in  thrall  to  the  strangers. 

Then  Tahn-te  stepped  forward  from  the  seat  of 
council  —  and  threw  aside  the  white  robe,  and  slender 
and  nude  as  the  Indian  gods  are  nude  but  for  the 
girdle,  and  the  medicine  pouch,  he  stood  erect,  looking 
for  the  first  time  direct  and  steadily  into  the  eyes  of 
Padre  Vicente.  The  circle  of  t|ie  council  room  might 
have  been  an  arena  and  only  those  two  facing  each 
other  and  measuring  each  other. 

While  one  might  count  ten  he  stood  thus  silent,  and 
Don  Ruy  could  hear  his  own  heart  beat,  and  Chico 
clutched  at  the  embroidered  doublet  of  Don  Diego, 
and  wished  for  the  sound  of  any  man's  voice. 

Then  Tahn-te  smiled  as  the  eyes  of  Padre  Vicente 
wavered,  as  Ka-yemo's  had  wavered  —  the  boy  who 
had  tamed  serpents  felt  the  strength  of  the  hills  with 
him.    Always  he  felt  strong  when  he  stood  alone ! 

From  the  medicine  pouch  he  took  the  gift  of  the 
rosary,  and  held  it  aloft  that  all  might  see,  and  the 
silver  Christ  on  it  caught  the  light  from  the  opening 
in  the  roof,  and  swung  and  circled  like  a  thing  alive. 

"  Senores  " —  he  said  in  Spanish  though  slowly, 
as  one  little  used  to  the  speech  — "  one  of  those 
among  you  has  done  me  the  honor  to  send  me  a  gift 
and  a  message.  I  was  making  prayers  at  that  time, 
—  I  have  not  been  free  to  return  thanks  until  now 
in  the  council.  I  do  so,  and  I  speak  in  Spain's  words 
as  this  is  not  a  Te-hua  matter.  It  is  a  gift  from  a 
Christian  to  a  Pagan,  and  the  message  told  me  a  king 
♦vould  be  proud  to  wear  this  strand  of  carven  beads. 
Senores :  —  I  am  no  king,  kings  give  royal  bounties 
to  each  giver  of  a  gift.  I  stand  naked  that  you  see 
with  your  own  eyes  how  little  I  can  accept, —  since 


180      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


in  return  I  can  give  not  anything!  Take  back  your 
kingly  gift,  Senor  Priest:  —  I  cannot  exchange  for  it 
even  —  a  soul!  " 

He  stepped  lightly  as  a  panther  of  the  hills  across 
the  open  space  and  let  fall  the  beads  into  the  hands 
of  Padre  Vicente. 

"  That  you  may  save  it  for  the  king,  Senor !  "  he 
said  gently,  and  bowing  with  more  of  grace  than  a 
courtier  who  does  homage,  he  returned  to  his  place. 

Padre  Vicente  turned  gray  white  under  the  tan. 
Don  Diego  crossed  himself  and  muttered  a  prayer. 
Juan  Gonzalvo  uttered  an  expletive  and  half  smoth- 
ered it  in  a  gasp  as  the  face  of  Tahn-te  caught  the 
light  for  one  instant. 

"  Blood  of  Christ !" — he  whispered — "look  at 
his  eyes  —  his  eyes !  " 

Don  Ruy  caught  the  arm  of  the  man  and  pressed 
it  for  warning  to  silence.  When  he  turned  a  more 
composed  face  to  the  circle,  the  secretary  was  looking 
at  him  and  there  was  something  like  terror  in  the  face 
of  the  lad.  Each  knew  the  thought  of  the  other  — 
each  remembered  the  words  of  Juan  Gonzalvo  at 
Ah-ko, —  also  the  basket  of  the  sacred  first  fruit  at 
the  portal  under  the  dove  cote  —  also  the  blue  eyes 
of  the  Greek  —  blue  with  lashes  so  long  and  so  heavy 
that  black  might  be  their  color.  The  pagan  priest 
would  need  all  the  help  of  his  gods  if  Juan  Gonzalvo 
caught  this  thought  of  theirs! 

Padre  Vicente  recovered  himself,  kissed  the  cruci- 
fix and  slipped  it  within  his  robe. 

"  The  words  of  this  man  are  the  words  Satan  is 
clever  in  coining  when  the  false  gods  speak  and  reject 
the  true,"  he  stated  quietly.  "  My  children,  we  must 
not  hold  this  against  the  weak  human  brother.  The 
devils  of  necromancy  and  sorcery  are  stubborn  —  but 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST.  IN  COUNCIL  181 


ere  this  the  stubbornness  has  been  broken,  and  the 
saints  have  rejoiced!  It  is  plain  that  devilish  arts 
could  not  prosper  where  the  Image  remained  —  hence 
it  has  been  given  back!  Make  no  mistake  my  chil- 
dren, where  the  word  of  God,  and  the  Image  rest, — 
there  the  pagan  powers  must  ever  grow  weak. 
Thanks  be  that  this  is  so!  Remember  it  —  all  of 
you  when  you  pray !  " 

Don  Diego  started  his  prayers  at  once,  while  Juan 
Gonzalvo  leaned  forward  and  stared  at  the  pagan 
sorcerer  like  a  hound  held  in  leash. 

The  Te-hua  men  had  heard  only  gentle  tones  from 
Tahn-te  and  thought  little  of  the  strange  change  in 
the  faces  of  the  Castilians. —  Tahn-te  many  times 
said  surprising  things  —  that  was  all ! 

But  Tahn-te,  listening  closely  to  the  priestly  admo- 
nition as  Padre  Vicente  grasped  all  the  meaning  of 
it.  He  was  being  branded  as  a  worker  of  evil  magic 
—  a  sorcerer  —  the  most  difficult  accusation  of  all  to 
light  down  in  an  Indian  mind! 

He  looked  from  face  to  face  of  the  strangers  — 
halted  at  the  secretary,  but  seeing  there  either  fear  or 
sympathy  —  his  eyes  sought  further,  and  rested  on 
Don  Ruy. 

Then  he  drew  from  his  medicine  pouch  a  second 
rosary,  a  beautifully  wrought  thing  of  ebony  and  gold. 

"  Serior  "  he  said, — "  if  I  mistake  not,  it  was  your 
animal  I  helped  but  yesterday.    Is  it  not  so?" 

"  It  was  in  truth  —  and  much  am  I  in  your  debt 
for  that  help  !  "  said  Ruy  Sandoval  with  heartiness  — 
"  it  is  no  fault  of  mine  that  I  am  late  in  rendering 
thanks.  You  deny  that  you  are  king  —  yet  I  have 
known  majesty  easier  to  approach !  " 

"  And  the  animal  is  now  well,  and  shows  no  marks 
of  the  Christian's  Satan  ?  " 


182      THE  FLUTE  OF,  THE  GODS 


"  Sound :  —  every  inch  of  him !  " 

"  Thanks  that  you  say  so,  and  that  you  do  not  fear 
to  say  so,"  said  Tahn-te.  "  Since  it  is  so,  it  makes 
clear  that  the  printed  word,  or  the  graven  image  is  no 
weight  to  True  Magic,  even  when  taught  us  by  pagan 
gods !  For  ten  years  I  have  read,  day  time  and  night 
time,  all  there  is  to  read  in  the  books  of  your  church 
left  by  Padre  Luis  —  also  all  the  other  books  left 
by  the  men  of  Serior  Coronado's  company,  and  by 
Padre  Juan  Padilla  who  died  at  Ci-bo-la.  Side  by 
side  I  have  studied  the  wisdom  of  these  books,  and 
the  wisdom  of  our  ancient  people  of  the  Te-hua,  as 
told  to  me  by  the  old  men.  One  has  never  held  me 
from  seeing  clear  that  which  I  read  in  the  other,  and 
the  graven  image  has  only  the  Meaning  and  the 
Power  which  each  man  gives  to  it !  It  was  with  me 
when  I  took  away  the  sting  of  the  Brother  Snake. 
Padre  Luis  was  a  man  who  would  have  been  a  good 
man  in  any  religion  —  that  is  why  I  kept  this  symbol 
of  him  —  not  for  the  crucified  god  on  it !  But  for 
the  sake  of  the  god,  is  it  sacred  to  you  because  your 
heart  tells  you  to  think  that  way.  It  is  right  to  be 
what  a  man's  heart  tells  him  to  be.  I  give  you  the 
prayer  beads.  I  give  it  to  you  because  your  horse 
helped  me  to  show  your  people  that  the  pagan  gods  are 
strong,  if  the  heart  of  the  man  is  strong!  " 

In  the  "  Relaciones  "  Don  Diego  wrote  that  — 
"  The  horrification  of  that  moment  was  a  time  men 
might  live  through  but  could  not  write  of. —  For  my- 
self I  know  well  that  only  the  invisible  army  of  the 
angels  kept  the  beams  of  the  roof  from  crushing  us,  as 
well  as  the  poor  pagans,  who  sat  themselves  still  in  a 
circle  with  pleasant  countenances !  " 

Ruy  Sandoval  knew  courage  of  any  kind  when  he 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  183 


saw  it,  and  he  met  Tahn-te  mid-way  of  the  council 
and  accepted  the  rosary  of  beauty  from  his  hand. 

"  My  thanks  to  you,  Senor  Cacique,"  he  said  — 
"  the  more  so  for  the  care  given  this  relic.  The 
Fray  Luis  de  Escalona  was  known  of  my  mother  — 
also  was  known  the  lady  from  whom  this  went  to  his 
hand.  A  goldsmith  of  note  fashioned  it,  and  its 
history  began  in  a  palace ;  —  strange  that  its  end 
should  be  found  here  in  the  desert  of  the  Indies." 

"  The  end  has  perhaps  not  yet  been  found,  Senor," 

—  said  the  Indian, — "  thanks  that  you  accept  it." 
Then  he  spoke  in  Te-hua  to  the  people  as  if  every 

personal  incident  with  the  Castilians  was  forever 
closed. 

"  You  have  listened  to  fair  words  from  these  men 

—  and  to  sweet  words  of  brother  and  brother.  I 
have  waited  until  all  of  you  spoke  that  I  might  know 
your  hearts.  You  are  proud  that  they  come  over  all 
the  deserts  and  seek  you  for  friends.  Have  you  asked 
them  why  it  is  so?  " 

No  one  had  asked  why  all  the  other  tribes  were 
left  behind,  and  why  the  strangers  had  come  to  camp 
at  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte. 

"  We  are  good  people,"  stated  one  man,  and  the 
others  thought  that  was  so,  and  a  fair  enough  reason. 

Tahn-te  listened,  and  then  spoke  to  the  Castilians. 

"  You  have  come  far,  Senores,  and  my  people  have 
not  yet  heard  the  true  reason  of  the  honor  you  pay 
them.  The  priest  always  goes  —  and  the  tale  told 
is  that  it  is  for  souls  —  (Father  Luis  truly  did  believe 
it  was  for  souls!)  But  your  books  tell  plainly  one 
thing,  and  the  Christian  men  I  knew  taught  by  their 
lives  the  same  thing,  and  it  was  this :  —  For  gold, 
for  precious  stones, —  or  for  women  —  are  the  real 


184      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


things  which  your  kings  send  out  companies  of  men 
in  search  of.  Women  you  could  find  without  crossing 
the  desert.  This  Te-hua  man  who  was  first  captive, 
and  then  slave,  would  have  come  in  gladness  to  his 
people  if  let  go  free,  yet  for  five  summers  and  winters 
did  the  Castilian  priest  hold  him  servant  and  at  last 
comes  with  him  to  his  home.  Is  this  because  of  love? 
His  reverence,  the  padre,  is  wise  in  much  with  men, 

—  but  great  love  is  not  his;  I  cannot  see  him  starv- 
ing in  a  cave,  and  blessing  his  tormentors  as  did  Fray 
Luis.  So,  Senores,  the  reason  must  be  made  more 
clear.  Senor  Coronado  sought  gold  —  and  full  free- 
dom was  given  him  to  find  gold  —  if  he  could !  Why 
is  your  desire  to  fight  for  us  against  the  Apache  and 
the  Yutah  —  and  what  is  the  thing  you  ask  in  ex- 
change? Not  yet  have  we  had  any  plain  word  as 
from  your  king." 

Don  Ruy  smiled  at  his  logic.  Here  was  no  un- 
tutored savage  such  as  they  had  hoped  to  buy  with 
glass  beads  —  or  perhaps  a  mule  the  worse  for  the 
journey!  However  it  ended,  he  was  getting  more 
of  adventure  than  if  he  had  built  a  ship  to  sail  the 
coasts ! 

"  Games  have  been  won  by  Truth  ere  now  even 
though  Truth  be  not  popular,"  he  said  to  the  padre. 

"  It  is  not  fitting  that  his  Reverence  should  make 
reply," —  put  in  Don  Diego  with  much  anger. 
"  Holy  Church  is  insulted  in  his  person.  If  this 
were  but  Madrid  — " 

"  To  wish  for  Paradise  takes  no  more  of  breath," 

—  suggested  Don  Ruy,  "  and  if  it  is  beneath  the  dig- 
nity of  any  else,  perhaps  I  could  speak  —  or  Chico 
here." 

But  the  latter  silently  disclaimed  gift  of  logic  or 
oratory, —  in  fact  the  turn  of  things  was  not  toward 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  185 


gaity.  Don  Diego  was  shocked  at  everything  said. 
Gonzalvo  and  the  padre  were  plainly  furious,  yet 
bound  to  silence.  Only  Don  Ruy  could  still  smile. 
To  him  it  was  a  game  good  as  a  bull  fight  —  and 
much  more  novel. 

"  I  shall  speak,  though  it  be  a  task  I  elsewhere 
evade,"  he  said,  and  looked  at  the  Cacique  —  a 
solitary  nude  bronze  body  amidst  all  the  gay  trap- 
pings of  the  assembly.  "Senor,  it  is  not  women  we 
seek  —  though  a  few  of  us  might  make  room  for  a 
pretty  one !  It  is  true  that  the  men  in  armor  would 
help  guard  your  fields,  for  they  have  heard  that  you 
are  the  Children  of  the  Sun  as  were  certain  people 
of  the  south.  In  the  south  the  sun  sent  a  sign  to 
his  children  —  it  was  gold  set  in  the  ledges  of  the 
rock,  or  the  gravel  of  the  stream.  If  these  people 
of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte  can  show  these  signs 
that  they  be  given  as  proof  to  our  king  —  then  men 
in  armor  of  steel  will  come  many  as  bees  on  the 
blossom  and  guard  your  land  that  your  corn  and  your 
women  be  ever  safe  from  the  wild  Indians  who  make 
devastation." 

Tahn-te  repeated  this  to  the  Te-hua  men  without 
comment  of  his  own,  and  the  dark  faces  were  watched 
by  the  Castilians.  They  could  see  no  eagerness  — 
only  a  little  wonder  —  and  from  some  a  shrug  or 
smile, —  but  —  not  from  any  of  them  anger  or  fierce 
looks ! 

The  padre  drew  a  quiet  breath  of  content  and 
leaned  back  —  the  game  was  at  least  even.  The 
Navahu  had  been  bad  for  two  years  —  very  bad ! 
The  appeal  of  Don  Ruy  might  prove  the  right  thing, 
and  the  simple  thing.  It  would  take  time,  for  the 
Indian  mind  was  slow;  —  the  quickness  of  the  naked 
sorcerer  proved  nothing  otherwise,  for  every  god- 


186      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


fearing  man  could  see  that  he  was  more  than  mortal 
in  satanic  strength.  Against  this  one  man  alone  must 
the  battle  for  the  Trinity  be  fought  I 

Together  did  the  Te-hua  men  of  council  speak 
much  —  and  to  Ka-yemo  they  turned  more  than  once 
and  asked  of  the  Tiguex  days  of  the  other  Christian 
men.  But  between  the  devil  of  the  padre  and  his 
symbols  and  the  deep  sea  of  the  eyes  of  Tahn-te, 
not  much  was  to  be  remembered  by  a  man,  and  he 
could  only  say  that  his  stay  in  the  south  was  not  long 

—  that  he  was  only  a  boy,  and  without  the  under- 
standing of  things  done  and  seen. 

"  I  have  spoken," —  said  Tahn-te  when  the  older 
men  turned  to  him  for  council  as  to  the  wisdom  of 
throwing  away  so  powerful  a  friend  as  the  men  of 
iron.  Some  were  concerned  lest  they  should  turn 
away  and  offer  help  to  their  enemies! 

In  the  land  of  the  Yutah  the  yellow  stones  were 
found  in  the  stream  —  also  in  the  heart  of  the  Nav- 
ahu  desert.  No  people  used  these  stones  because  they 
were  sacred  to  the  sun,  and  strong  for  prayer,  but 

—  it  was  well  to  think  what  would  happen  if  the 
men  of  iron  were  brothers  to  the  Navahu! 

u  Never  more  could  we  sleep  under  our  own  roof 

—  or  plant  corn  in  our  own  fields,"  said  the  man 
from  Te-tzo-ge, — "  our  daughters  would  be  wives  to 
the  Navahu  and  mothers  of  Navahu,  and  the  grass 
would  grow  over  the  walls  we  have  builded." 

They  smoked  in  silence  over  this  thought,  for  it  was 
a  dark  thought  —  and  it  could  come  true ! 

"  We  could  kill  these  few,  and  then  sleep  sound  for 
a  long  time  with  no  trouble  thoughts,"  suggested  one, 
a  patriarch  from  Ui-la-ua. 

"  That  is  true,"  said  Tahn-te  — "  but  if  we  do  that 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  187 


way  we  would  be  no  better  than  these  men  of  iron. 
Their  god  talks  two  ways  for  killing,  and  their 
men  live  two  ways.  Our  god  when  he  taught  our 
fathers,  gave  them  but  one  law  for  killing,  it  was 
this :  — "  Go  not  to  battle.  A  time  will  come  for  you 
to  fight,  and  the  stars  in  the  sky  will  mark  that  time. 
When  the  star  of  the  ice  land  moves  —  then  the 
battle  time  will  be  here !  Until  then  live  as  brothers 
and  make  houses  —  use  the  spear  only  when  the 
enemy  comes  to  break  your  walls."  That  is  the 
world  of  the  Great  Ruler.  To  kill  these  men  only 
holds  the  matter  for  your  sons  to  decide  some  other 
year." 

"  What  then  is  to  do?  "  demanded  a  man  of  Na- 
im-be  — "  they  do  not  break  the  walls,  but  they  are 
beside  the  gates." 

"  When  the  Yutah  and  the  Navahu  traders  come 
with  skin  robes,  what  is  it  you  do?  "  asked  Tahn-te. 

"  We  trade  them  our  corn  and  our  melons  and  we 
get  the  robes." 

"And," — added  Tahn-te — "the  governor  of 
each  village  gives  them  room  outside  the  walls  when 
the  night  comes,  and  the  chief  of  war  sees  that  the 
gate  is  closed,  and  that  a  guard  never  goes  down  from 
the  roof!  If  these  men  are  precious  to  you,  make  of 
them  brothers,  and  send  prayer  thoughts  on  their 
trail,  but  never  forget  that  they  are  traders,  and  never 
forget  that  the  watchers  must  be  on  the  roof  so  long 
as  they  stay  in  your  land !  They  come  for  that  which 
they  can  carry  away,  and  once  they  have  it  you  will 
be  in  their  hearts  only  as  the  grass  of  last  year  on  the 
hills  —  a  forgotten  thing  over  which  they  ride  to  new 
harvests !  " 

"  You  talk  as  one  who  has  eaten  always  from  the 


188      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


same  bowl  with  the  strangers,"  spoke  one  man  from 
Oj-ke  — "  yet  you  are  young,  and  some  of  these  men 
are  not  young." 

"  Because  — " —  said  Tahn-te  catching  the  implied 
criticism  of  his  youth  and  his  prominence — "  because 
in  the  talking  paper  which  their  god  made,  there  is 
records  of  all  their  men  since  ancient  days.  They 
have  never  changed.  Their  gods  tell  them  to  go  out 
and  kill  and  take  all  that  which  the  enemy  will  not 
give, —  to  take  also  the  maids  for  slaves, —  that  is 
their  book  of  laws  from  the  Beginning.  Since  I  was 
a  boy  I  have  studied  all  these  laws.  It  was  my  work. 
By  the  god  a  man  has  in  his  heart  we  can  know  the 
man!  Their  god  is  a  good  god  for  traders,  and  a 
strong  god  for  war.  But  the  watchers  of  the  night 
must  never  leave  the  gate  unguarded  when  they  camp 
under  the  walls." 

All  this  Padre  Vicente  heard,  all  this  and  much  of 
it  was  comprehended  by  him.  Plainly  it  was  not 
well  to  seek  converts  when  the  pernicious  tongue  of 
the  Cacique  could  speak  in  their  ears. 

"  It  may  be  that  we  abide  many  days  beside  you," 
he  said  gently  and  with  manner  politic  — "  also  it 
may  be  that  we  visit  the  wise  men  of  the  other  vil- 
lages, and  take  to  them  the  good  will  of  our  king. 
The  things  said  to-day  we  will  think  of  kindly  until 
that  time.  And  in  the  end  you  will  all  learn  of  the 
true  god,  and  will  know  that  we  have  come  to  be  your 
brothers  if  you  are  the  children  of  the  true  god." 

Upon  which  he  held  up  the  cross,  and  bent  his  head 
as  in  prayer,  and  went  first  up  the  ladder  into  the 
light.  He  was  pale  and  the  sweat  stood  on  his  face. 
It  had  been  a  hard  hour. 

The  others  followed  in  due  order,  but  Don  Diego 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  189 


eyed  the  wizard  Cacique  with  a  curiosity  great  as  was 
his  horror. 

"  Alone  he  has  studied  books  without  a  tutor  — 
sacred  books  —  since  his  boyhood!  "  he  said  to  Don 
Ruy — "think  of  that,  and  of  the  grief  we  had  to 
persuade  you  to  the  reading  of  even  the  saintly  lives  I 
There  is  devilish  art  in  this  —  the  angels  guard  us 
from  further  sorcery  —  without  a  tutor!  A  savage 
magician  to  study  strange  tongues  without  a  tutor! 
It  is  nothing  short  of  infernal!  " 

But  despite  all  opinion,  Don  Ruy  waited  and  ap- 
prached  the  man  of  the  white  robe  and  the  cruel 
logic. 

"You  have  been  my  friend,'' — he  said — "will 
you  not  eat  with  me  and  talk  in  quiet  of  these 
matters?  " 

"  You  do  not  fear  then  to  be  marked  as  the  com- 
rade of  a  sorcerer?"  asked  Tahn-te.  "You  must 
be  a  man  of  strength  in  your  own  land,  Excellency, 
to  dare  offend  your  priest  by  such  offer.  Is  the  Holy 
Office  no  longer  supreme  in  Spain?  " 

"  How  do  you  —  an  Indian  —  know  of  the  office, 
of  the  duties  of  the  workers  there  ?  " 

"  Two  years  of  my  life  I  lived  in  the  camp  of 
Coronada.  To  listen  was  part  of  my  work. 
Strange  and  true  tales  were  told  in  the  long  nights. 
They  are  still  with  me." 

"  But  —  you  will  come  ?  " 

Tahn-te  looked  at  him  and  smiled  —  but  the  smile 
held  no  gladness. 

"  My  thanks  to  you,  Senor.  To  you  I  give  the 
prayer  beads  —  it  is  good  to  give  them  to  you. 
More  than  that  is  not  for  me  to  do.  My  work  takes 
me  from  where  the  feast  songs  are  sung." 


190       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 

Then  he  wrapped  about  him  the  white  robe  made 
of  deer  skins,  and  it  was  as  if  he  had  enshouded  him- 
self in  silence  not  to  be  broken. 

With  reluctance  Don  Ruy  went  up  the  ladder  and 
left  him  there.  The  sweetness  of  the  outer  air  was 
good  after  the  reek  of  many  smokes  in  the  kiva  — 
and  the  adventurer  stood  on  the  terrace  and  drew 
great  breaths  and  gazed  across  the  tree  fringed 
water,  and  thought  it  all  a  goodly  sight  well  worth 
the  jealousy  of  the  pagan  guardian. 

Don  Diego  had  accompanied  the  padre  to  their 
own  quarters,  but  Juan  Gonzalvo  was  across  the  court 
speaking  quietly  to  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  whose  vanity  re- 
quired some  soothing  that  she  had  been  shut  out  by 
Tahn-te  from  council  and  her  coveted  official  tasks. 

At  the  wall  of  the  terrace  waited  the  secretary  in 
some  hesitation,  yet  striving  for  boyish  courage  to 
speak  the  things  outside  the  duty  of  his  office. 

"  Your  pardon,  Excellency,"  he  said  lowly.  "  It 
is  not  for  me  to  advise,  but  I  heard  some  words  of 
the  two  over  there  —  may  I  speak?  " 

"  Yes,  my  lad,  and  quickly  as  may  be.  Their  two 
Heads  are  over  close  together  for  discretion.  I  fear 
I  shall  have  the  task  and  expense  of  providing  a 
duenna  for  my  beauteous  interpreter." 

"  Little  enough  of  love  there  is  with  that  dame !  " 
commented  the  other, — "  it  is  hate  —  your  Excellency 
i —  and  for  you  to  say  whether  their  private  hates 
may  not  be  a  breeder  of  woe  for  all  of  us." 

"You  mean — ? —  and  Don  Ruy  motioned  with 
his  head  towards  the  kiva. 

"  Yes :  —  it  is  the  Cacique.  The  woman  for  some 
cause  is  bitter  with  hate  against  him. —  Juan  Gon- 
zalvo is  eager  to  listen  —  he  is  restless  as  quicksilver 
already  with  suspicion  of  strange  things.    In  the  far 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  191 


south  he  and  his  comrades  made  little  odds  of  riding 
rough  shod  over  the  natives  —  here  he  would  do  the 
same  at  a  word  from  the  padre." 

"  And  that  word  we  can  ill  afford  when  we  are  but 
a  handful!  "  decided  Don  Ruy, —  "  Hum!  —  for  in- 
stant annihilation  of  the  proud  pagan  we  can  depend 
on  Gonzalvo,  the  padre,  and  Maestro  Diego,  if  it 
came  to  a  showing  of  hands.  There  must  be  no 
showing :  —  Capitan  Gonzalvo !  " 

"  Yes,  Excellency." 

Gonzalvo  crossed  quickly  to  him,  while  Yahn  stood 
sulkily  watching  the  three  with  lazy,  half  closed  eyes. 

"  You  forget  none  of  the  pagan  Cacique's  words 
—  or  his  defiance  of  Holy  Church? 

"  His  defiance  of  Holy  God !  —  Excellency,"  an- 
swered Gonzalvo  hotly, — "  and  that  is  not  all  —  I 
have  heard  things  —  I  am  putting  them  together  — 
You  saw  his  eyes  —  scarcely  Indian  eyes !  You 
heard  his  accursed  logic  of  heresy  —  not  all  Indian  — > 
that!  Indians  may  think  like  that  in  their  accursed 
hearts,  but  they  do  not  find  the  quick  words  to  argue 
with  their  superiors  as  does  this  insolent  dog! 
Listen,  Don  Ruy,  for  I  have  found  the  clue  —  and 
he  belongs  to  me  —  that  man !  " 

"  To  you  —  Capitan?  " 

"  To  me !  You  have  listened  to  mad  things  of  his 
birth  and  of  his  clan  —  the  girl  of  the  twilight  and 
the  seed  bearer — well,  what  I  tell  you  seems  even 
more  mad,  but  it  will  be  true  if  ever  we  get  to  the 
end  of  it  —  that  story  of  the  thrice  accursed  Teo  the 
Greek  —  you  recall  it?  —  he  did  without  doubt  cross 
this  river  and  saw  the  Pueblos, —  this  sorcerer  is  of 
his  spawn  —  he  and  his  medicine  mother  come  back  in 
good  time  with  their  Star  God  story,  and  the  seeds  — > 
the  identical  seeds  of  the  padre's  story  I    See  you  not 


192      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


what  it  all  leads  to  ?  He  has  the  blood  of  the  Greek 
in  him :  —  in  any  Christian  land  he  has  enough  of  it 
to  be  broken  on  the  wheel  for  his  damnable 
heresies!  " 

"  But — since  we  are  not  in  a  Christian  land,  and 
doubtless  shall  never  see  him  in  a  Christian  land?" 

"  That  narrows  it  down  to  man  and  man,  Excel- 
lency! His  father  made  a  slave  of  mine  —  my 
earliest  oath  on  the  Cross  and  on  the  Faith,  was 
vengeance  against  the  Greek  and  all  his  blood! 
God  of  Heaven !  —  to  think  that  of  all  the  priests  of 
Mexico  you  chose  the  one  who  knew  that  story !  — 
and  that  of  all  the  Indian  tribes,  we  have  come  to  the 
one  where  the  half  Greek  sorcerer  rules  like  a  Turk! 
Don  Ruy  —  you  have  led  me  north  to  vengeance  — <■ 
my  sword  and  my  arm  are  forever  to  your  cause." 

"  Many  thanks  to  you,  Capitan,  but  in  this  case  it 
is  not  your  sword  I  shall  command  —  except  to  re- 
main in  its  scabbard !  —  but  your  speech  I  must 
silence  while  we  give  this  matter  of  the  Cacique  a 
season  of  prayer  and  due  consideration." 

"Excellency  —  I  do  not  understand  — " 

"  You  understand  at  least  all  that  a  soldier  need, 
Capitan,"  said  Don  Ruy  with  smiling  ease.  "  Your 
commission  comes  from  me, —  and  I  did  not  bestow 
it  for  the  furtherance  of  private  quarrels.  Until  I 
give  the  word,  your  speech  must  not  again  mention 
the  thing  you  suspect  — " 

"  But  —  the  padre  — " 

"  Least  of  all  must  the  padre  or  Senor  Brancedori 
hear  even  a  whisper  of  it!    Neither  private  venge- 
ance, nor  religious  war  must  be  pursued  while  the 
company  is  on  our  present  quest." 
•    "  You  would  have  me  break  my  oath  on  the  cross 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  193 


—  save  a  heretic  alive  who  belongs  in  the  deepest 
pit?  —  Excellency !  " 

Gonzalvo's  voice  had  much  of  pleading.  He  felt 
himself  a  man  cheated  of  his  righteous  dues. 

"  Your  holy  vengeance  will  keep  until  our  quest 
is  over  —  and  the  more  time  to  prepare  your  soul," 
suggested  Don  Ruy.  "  Then  —  if  the  gold  is  found, 
and  all  goes  well,  you  two  can  have  open  fight  before 
we  take  the  road  to  the  south.  But  until  that  lucky 
hour,  the  first  and  the  last  word  for  you  is  —  si- 
lence!" 

Gonzalvo  stood,  staring  in  baffled  rage.  It  was 
to  the  padre  he  should  have  gone  first.  He  had 
played  the  wrong  card  in  the  game.  Was  Don  Ruy 
bewitched  as  well  as  his  horse? 

"  At  least  I  shall  have  a  double  debt  to  pay  when 
my  time  does  come,  Excellency  " —  he  said  at  last. 
"  His  pagan  discourse  warrants  him  a  Christian  knife, 
and  will  insure  him  a  corner  of  hell  when  I  send  him 
there!" 

At  a  respectful  distance  the  secretary  had  seated 
himself,  and  rested  with  brow  on  fists. 

"How  now?" — asked  Don  Ruy.  "  You  seem 
little  heartened  by  all  this  brave  talk  of  righteousness. 
Think  you  the  monk's  life  of  cloister  and  garden 
looks  fair  after  all?  " 

"  In  truth,  Senor,  if  you  have  the  desire  to  de- 
spatch a  lackey  to  your  lady  love  across  the  sands,  you 
may  choose  me  if  you  like !  "  agreed  the  lad.  "  I 
have  neither  heart  nor  stomach  for  this  contest  of 
souls  or  no  souls  —  the  pagan  blood  for  my  far  away 
grandmother  unfits  me  for  judgement  —  this  heretic 
of  the  white  robe  is  fighting  the  same  fight  of  my  own 
people  —  but  he  fights  it  like  one  inspired  by  the 


194      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


nahual  of  a  god.  Yet  —  there  is  only  one  finish  to 
it !  Bulls-hide  shields  and  arrows  stand  not  long  be- 
fore steel  coats  and  leaden  bullets  —  I  would  be  else- 
where when  the  finish  comes,  Senor." 

"  The  nahual  of  a  god !  "  repeated  Don  Ruy, 
"  now  what  may  that  mean  in  Christian  speech?  " 

"  In  Christian  speech  it  does  not  exist  —  the  church 
has  spilled  much  blood  that  it  be  washed  from  the 
pagan  mind,"  said  the  lad.  "  But  the  nahual  is  the 
guardian  angel  or  guardian  devil  born  to  earth  with 
each  man  —  it  is  like  his  shadow,  yet  unseen,  it  is 
part  of  the  Great  Mystery  from  the  other  side  of 
the  dawn  and  the  other  side  of  the  dark.  Once 
open  worship  was  given  to  the  Nahual,  and  their 
priests  were  strong.  Now  if  the  worshippers  do 
meet,  it  is  in  secret.  This  man  has  truly  drawn  to 
himself  a  strong  nahual  and  it  should  give  him  much 
of  the  magic  which  the  good  padre  tells  us  is  ac- 
cursed." 

"  For  a  boy  you  have  a  fund  of  strange  lore !  " 
commented  Don  Ruy, — "  too  much  for  good  com- 
pany in  the  night  time, —  small  wonder  that  you 
range  abroad  and  dream  under  the  stars!  The 
monks  never  taught  you  all  of  it.  Come :  —  tell  me 
truly  of  your  escapade  —  what  sent  you  to  our 
ranks?  " 

The  lad  flushed,  then  shrugged  his  shoulders  and 
regarded  the  toes  of  his  sandals. 

"  Excellency  —  if  you  require  that  I  tell  you  —  I 
am  most  certain  never  to  get  the  commission  to  carry 
message  to  lady  of  yours!  "  he  said  so  whimsically 
that  the  excellency  laughed  and  promised  him  con- 
stant employment  on  such  embassies  if  fortune  found 
him  ladies. 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  195 


"Then:  —  I  must  speak  myself  a  failure!  M 
damsel  did  trust  me  with  some  such  message  to  her 
cavalier  and  seeing  that  the  love  was  all  on  one  side 

—  and  that  side  her  own  —  I  dared  not  go  back  and 
face  her  —  not  even  her  guerdon  could  I  by  any 
means  steal  from  him;  brief:  —  I  saved  my  neck  by 
following  you  and  leaving  the  landl  " 

"  Was  she  so  high  in  power?  " 

"Yes: — and  —  no,  Excellency.  She  was,  with 
all  her  estates,  so  close  under  the  guard  of  the  Viceroy 
that  she  could  win  all  favors  but —  freedom!  " 

"How?"  queried  Don  Ruy  with  wrinkled  brow 

—  his  thoughts  travelling  fast  to  the  converse  of  the 
gentle  maniac  as  told  him  by  the  padre.  "  Has  the 
Viceroy  then  a  collection  of  pretty  birds  in  cages  — j 
and  must  they  sing  only  for  the  viceregal  ear?  " 

"  I  cannot  tell  as  to  other  cages,  Senor,  but  this 
one  was  meant  to  sing  only  for  a  viceregal  relative: 

—  if  she  proved  heretic,  then  the  convent  waited  and 
her  lands  were  otherwise  disposed  of." 

"  Hum !  Then  even  in  the  provinces  such  rulings 
work  as  swiftly  as  at  court!  Well,  what  outer 
charge  was  there?  " 

"  The  strongest  possible  charge,  Excellency.  The 
mother  of  the  girl  had  Indian  blood,  and,  despite 
the  wealth  and  Christian  teaching  of  her  husband  — 
returned  to  Indian  worship  at  his  death.  For  that 
she  was  called  mad,  and  ended  her  days  in  a  Convent. 
The  daughter  of  course  will  also  be  mad  if  she  re- 
fuses to  be  guided  by  the  good  friends  who  select  her 
husband  —  that  husband  was  her  only  gate  to  free- 
dom, knowing  which  the  maid  did  certainly  do  some 
mad  things :  —  to  strangers  she  tried  to  speak  — 
from  her  duenna  she  slipped  out  in  the  night  time  — 


196      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


oh  there  is  no  doubt  that  all  the  evidence  will  show 
plainly  in  court  that  she  is  more  mad  than  her 
mother  — " 

"  Chico !  " —  The  hand  of  Don  Ruy  rested  on  the 
shoulder  of  the  lad  — "  You  are  telling  me  the  hidden 
part  of  a  story  to  which  I  have  listened  from  other 
lips  —  and  your  eyes  have  tears  in  them !  —  Tush !  — 
be  not  ashamed  lad.  You  yourself  have  heart  for 
the  lady  ?" 

"  Not  in  a  way  unseemly,"  retorted  the  lad,  dashing 
the  water  from  his  eyes, — "  to  think  of  the  mother 
dead  like  that  behind  the  bars  is  not  a  cheery  thing ! 
As  for  the  daughter  —  I  dare  call  myself  her  foster 
brother,  and  I  dare  pray  for  her  that  she  finds  the 
chance  to  die  in  the  open !  " 

"  What  a  little  world  it  is!  "  said  the  adventurer. 
"  Do  you  mean  that  you  did  come  with  a  message  — 
and  that  your  heart  failed  you  as  to  consequences? 
You  failed  the  lady  —  my  unknown  lady  of  the 
tryst?" 

"  Excellency:  —  the  maid  thought  you  a  person  of 
adventure,  and  she  dared  hope  to  buy  your  services 

—  then  —  you  two  know  best  what  you  whispered  in 
the  dark !  —  but  she  no  longer  thought  of  purchase 
money  in  exchange  for  helping  her  escape  to  a  ship; 

—  God  knows  what  she  thought  of,  for  you  must  not 
forget  that  she  is  called  mad,  Senor!  But  with  all 
her  madness  she  would  not  have  approached  your 
highness  with  the  same  freedom  had  she  dreamed 
that  your  rank  was  high  as  the  camp  whispered  to 
me  the  day  I  came  for  speech  with  you !  That  rank 
told  me  a  story  I  could  not  go  back  and  tell  her, 
Senor  —  so  —  I  used  my  forged  letter  written  on 
viceregal  paper,  and  secured  service  with  a  man  in- 
stead of  a  maid." 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  197 


"  And  left  her  waiting?  " 

"  I  could  do  her  no  help  by  going  back  —  she  is 
no  worse  off  than  if  I  had  not  come." 

"  She  sent  you  for  the  silken  broidery?  " 

"  She  said  if  you  could  come  to  her  service,  the 
scarf  or  a  certain  page  of  a  certain  book  would  serve 
as  a  sign :  —  letters  are  difficult  things  —  boys  who 
carry  them  are  tripped  up  at  times  and  learn  the 
might  of  a  lash.  To  send  a  jewelled  bauble  and  ask 
for  the  silken  scarf  was  a  less  harmful  thing  for  the 
messengers." 

"  You  imp  of  an  Indian  devil!  a  souvenir  was 
sent  me  —  and  a  message  —  and  I  am  hearing  no 
word  of  it  until  now  in  this  pagan  land!  " 

"  Excellency  :  —  the  message  is  of  little  moment 
now  —  it  was  only  a  matter  of  a  tryst  —  and  you 
were  too  far  on  the  journey!  But  the  ardor  of  the 
Capitan  Gonzalvo  may  bring  us  all  strange  moments, 
—  and  it  may  be  some  graves!  If  mine  should  be 
among  them,  and  you  should  live  to  go  back,  you  can 
take  from  my  neck  the  bauble  trusted  to  me  by  the 
lady.  It  is  one  of  the  records  of  her  madness.  But 
you  will  not  quite  laugh  at  it,  Senor  —  and  you  will 
forgive  me  that  I  could  not  give  it  to  you  as  she  had 
dreamed  in  her  madness  that  I  could  easily  do." 

"  Mad  ?  By  our  Lady !  —  there  has  been  no  mad- 
ness from  first  to  last  but  my  own  when  I  was  tricked 
away  from  her  by  lies  pious  and  politic !  Oh  —  oh ! 
« —  our  padre  was  in  it  deep,  and  I  have  served  their 
purpose !  And  you  —  you  girl-faced  little  devil  — 
what  share  is  yours  in  all  this?  Whose  tool  have 
you  been  from  first  to  last?  " 

"Whose?" — the  lad  had  regained  his  careless 
mien  — "  surely  not  that  of  Dame  Venus  or  her  son, 
Master  Cupid!    It  is  well  for  me  to  find  employ  in 


198       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  wilderness  —  never  again  dare  I  seek  service  with 
lord  or  lady!" 

"  Your  lady  lost  her  wits  ere  she  made  you  am- 
bassador on  a  love  quest!  " 

"  Without  doubt  you  speak  truth,  Excellency.  I 
might  add  —  (had  I  not  been  whipped  into  politeness 
to  my  superiors  !)  that  the  deluded  maid  had  lost  her 
wits  ere  she  fell  into  love  with  a  face  seen  from  a 
balcony  —  or  with  a  voice  whispering  to  her  in  the 
darkness  of  a  rose  bower !  " 

Don  Ruy  looked  at  him  without  much  of  sweet- 
ness in  the  glance. 

"  IVe  two  minds  regarding  you,"  he  stated, — » 
"  and  one  of  them  is  to  thresh  you  for  faithlessness 
and  a  forward  tongue !  " 

"  Then  I  beg  that  you  choose  the  other  mind !  " 
said  the  secretary,  on  his  feet,  alert,  and  ready  to 
make  a  run  if  need  be.  "  Don  Diego  could  not  well 
spare  me  in  the  midst  of  his  struggles  with  the 
heathen,  and  his  desire  that  honest  things  be  set  down 
in  the  *  Relaciones.'  Moreover  —  Excellency,  it 
would  take  many  words  to  convince  that  pious  gentle- 
man that  I  had  been  faithless  in  aught  —  to  you !  " 

There  was  a  pitiful  little  quaver  in  the  last  words 
by  which  Don  Ruy  was  made  ashamed  of  his  threat, 
for  despite  his  anger  that  the  lad  was  over  close  in 
the  confidence  of  the  unknown  Mexican  maid,  yet  the 
stripling  had  been  a  source  of  joy  as  they  rode  side 
by  side  over  the  desert  reaches,  and  he  knew  that 
only  for  him  had  those  Indian  thoughts  been  given 
that  were  heresy  most  rank  for  any  other  ears.  In 
ways  numberless  had  the  devotion  of  the  lad  been 
manifest. 

But  Don  Ruy  had  little  heart  to  discuss  the  matter, 
he  was  still  flushed  with  the  annoying  thought  that 


he  Page 

Page  199 


A  PAGAN  PRIEST  IN  COUNCIL  199 


the  young  cub  had  been  let  know  every  whisper  of 
the  moment  under  the  roses.  He  walked  away  with- 
out more  words. 

And  Yahn  who  was  watching  the  two,  was  very 
glad  in  her  heart.  She  could  plainly  see  that  those 
two  who  had  laughed  at  her  sometimes,  were  having  a 
quarrel  that  was  a  trouble  to  each,  for  Don  Ruy 
walked  away  with  an  angry  frown,  and  the  page  stood 
by  the  terrace  steps  a  long  time,  and  looked  across 
the  river  with  no  smile  on  his  face. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID 

E RE  the  morning  star  saw  its  face  in  the  sacred 
lake  of  the  Na-im-be  mountains,  Tahn-te, 
the  Po-Ahtun-ho,  had  done  a  thing  not  of 
custom:  —  he  was  leaving  the  governor  to  hear 
the  prayers  of  Povi-whah,  while  he,  for  reasons 
politic,  made  the  run  to  the  most  northern  of  pueblos. 

Much  in  the  council  of  the  strangers  had  shown 
him  their  power  over  the  old  men  whose  minds  were 
divided  between  dread  of  the  savage  tribes,  and  won- 
der if  the  youth  of  Tahn-te  gave  him  warrant  for  all 
the  knowledge  expressed  by  him. 

The  governor  of  Te-gat-ha  had  sent  no  men  to  the 
council  of  Povi-whah.  From  that  fact  had  Tahn-te 
reasoned  that  Te-gat-ha  meant  to  show  no  favors  to 
the  white  strangers.  Te-gat-ha  was  of  itself,  very 
stronge,  else  it  could  not  have  held  its  walls  against 
the  Yutah  and  the  wild  tribes  of  the  north.  There- 
fore would  Te-gat-ha  be  a  good  comrade. 

Twenty  leagues  it  lay  across  the  river  and  the 
mountain,  but  Tahn-te  had  ere  the  dawn  taken  the 
bath  in  the  living  stream  of  the  river :  —  it  runs  and 
never  tires,  and  its  virtues  are  borrowed  by  the  bather 
who  lets  it  have  its  way  with  him  while  he  whispers  the 
prayers  of  the  stars  of  the  morning. 

He  knew  that  this  was  the  moon  and  the  time  of 
the  moon,  when  the  summer  ceremonies  were  made  in 
Te-gat-ha  to  the  God  of  Creations,  and  because  of 

200 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  201 


a  wonderful  visitor  in  the  sky,  he  knew  that  special 
ceremonies  would  be  held.  The  Ancient  Star  was 
near  the  zenith  —  never  must  it  depart  without  a  life 
to  strengthen  it  on  the  downward  trail ! 

The  Po-Ahtun-ho  in  his  ceremonial  person  never 
leaves  the  region  of  the  sanctuary,  any  more  than  the 
pope  across  the  seas  dare  go  adventuring.  It  was 
as  Tahn-te  the  courier,  that  he  carried  the  message 
of  the  Po-Athun  to  the  man  of  Te-gat-ha  that  no 
shadow  of  doubt  be  left  in  his  mind  as  to  where  they 
stood  in  the  Pueblo  brotherhood. 

The  mountain  forest  of  Te-gat-ha,  and  the  rose 
thickets  close  to  the  brown  walls  make  it  a  place  of 
beauty.  Through  the  open  court  between  the  cen- 
tury old  buildings,  runs  the  mountain  stream  with 
its  message  from  the  heights  to  the  hidden  river  cut- 
ting deep  down  in  the  green  plain  to  the  west. 

The  valley  of  Povi-whah  was  beautiful  in  itself 
as  a  garden  is  good  to  look  on  when  the  spirits  of 
the  Growing  Things  have  worked  well  with  the  man 
who  covers  the  seed,  but  Te-gat-ha  brought  thoughts 
of  a  different  beauty  —  even  as  did  the  memory  of 
Walpi  in  Tusayan. 

Walpi  breathed  the  spirit  of  a  tragic  life,  the  last 
fortress  of  a  mysterious  people.  Te-gat-ha  sat  en- 
throned facing  the  setting  sun.  Ancient,  beautiful 
and  insolent  —  with  the  insolence  which  refused  to 
grow  old  though  she  had  been  mistress  of  many 
centuries. 

Tahn-te  the  dreamer, —  the  student  of  mystic 
things,  was  subtly  conscious  of  that  almost  personal 
—  almost  feminine  appeal  of  Te-gat-ha.  Strong  in 
its  beauty  as  in  its  battles  —  it  yet  retained  a  sensu- 
ous atmosphere  that  was  as  the  mingling  of  rose 
bloom  and  wild  plum  blossom,  of  crushed  mint  grown 


202       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


in  the  shadows  of  the  moist  places,  and  clinging 
feathery  clematis,  binding  by  its  tendrils  green  thick- 
ets into  walls  impregnable. 

He  could  hear  the  beating  of  the  tombe  while  yet 
out  of  sight  of  the  sentinel  on  the  western  wall  o*f  the 
terrace.  Medicine  was  being  made,  or  dances  were 
being  danced. 

While  he  ran  through  the  forest  his  thoughts  had 
drifted  again  and  again  to  the  vision  of  the  bluebird 
maid.  Was  she  the  earth  form  of  the  God-Maid 
on  the  south  mesa  where  the  great  star  hung  low? 
Was  she  the  Goddess  Estsanatlehi  who  wore  for 
him  the  color  of  the  blue  earth  jewel  sacred  to  her? 

—  was  she  the  shadow  of  the  dream-maid  of  all  his 
boy  days  —  the  Ka-ye-povi  who  had  gone  from  earth 
to  the  Light  beyond  the  light?  All  the  wild  places 
spoke  of  her,  each  stream  he  crossed  made  him  see 
the  young  limbs  pictured  in  the  pool  —  each  bird 
song  made  him  remember  the  symbol  sent  to  him  by 
the  vision  —  the  world  was  a  sweeter  place  because 
of  the  vision. 

It  came  even  against  his  will  between  himself  and 
the  priest  of  the  robe  who  had  called  him  11  Sorcerer  " 

—  and  who  was  the  real  general  he  would  have  to 
do  battle  with  in  the  near  days.  The  others  he 
scarcely  thought  of,  but  that  one  of  the  wise  tactful 
speech  he  must  think  of  much. 

Then  while  he  told  himself  that  the  thought  of  the 
men  of  iron  must  never  be  forgotten  for  even  the 
sweetest  of  forest  dreams;  —  in  that  same  moment 
the  rustling  of  the  wind  in  the  pinons  made  him 
thrill  with  the  closeness  of  the  remembered  vision  as 
no  sight  of  living  maid  had  ever  made  him  thrill :  — 
might  it  be  magic  from  Those  Above  to  try  his 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  203 


strength?  Might  the  memory  of  the  maid  and  the 
pool,  be  akin  to  that  temptation  of  the  babe  and  the 
arms  of  the  mother  outlined  on  the  shadows  of  the 
ancient  graven  stone? 

That  had  plainly  been  false  enchantment  —  and 
he  had  danced  it  away  in  the  prayer  dance  to  the 
Ancient  Father.  It  had  not  returned  even  in  his 
dreams.  But  the  maid  of  the  bluebird  had  not  ever 
gone  quite  away.  So  close  she  seemed  at  times  that 
if  he  turned  his  head  quickly  in  the  places  of  shadows 
he  felt  that  he  might  see  her  again  before  the  Spirit 
People  hid  the  body  of  beauty. 

And  then  —  as  he  ran,  and  turned  where  the  trail 
circled  a  rugged  column  of  stone  at  the  edge  of  the 
piiion  woods, —  there  a  shadow  flitted  as  a  bird  past 
the  great  gray  barrier.  He  turned  from  the  trail 
almost  without  volition  of  his  own,  and  followed  the 
flitting  shadow,  and  —  the  maid  of  the  bluebird  wing 
was  again  before  him! 

Not  merging  into  the  shadows  as  before.  Against 
the  grey  wall  of  rock  she  stood  as  a  wild  hunted  thing 
at  bay « — •  breathless,  panting  —  but  with  head  thrown 
back  to  look  death  in  the  face. 

But  death  was  not  what  she  saw  in  his  eyes  —  only 
a  wonder  great  as  her  own  —  and  with  the  wonder 
fear, —  and  something  else  than  fear. 

Plainly  she  had  been  bound  by  thongs  of  raw-hide, 
tfor  one  yet  hung  from  her  wrist.  Much  of  her  body 
was  bare,  her  greatest  garment  was  a  deer-skin  robe 
held  in  her  hand  as  she  ran. 

Because  of  this,  could  he  see  that  her  body  and  her 
arms  were  decorated  with  ceremonial  symbols  in  the 
sacred  colors,  and  the  painting  of  them  was  not  com- 
plete.   I*  was  evident  she  had  been  chosen  for  the 


204      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


forest  dance  of  the  maidens  who  were  young.  It  was 
plain  also  that  she  had  resisted,  and  had  in  some  way 
broken  from  the  people. 

At  the  something  other  than  fear  in  his  eyes,  she 
gained  courage,  and  at  the  bluebird's  wing  in  his  head 
band,  she  stared  and  touched  the  one  in  her  own 
braids,  and  then  touched  her  own  breast. 

"  Doli  (Blue  Bird)  — me!"  she  said  appealingly. 
"  Navahu  " —  then  she  held  her  hand  out  as  though 
measuring  the  height  of  a  child. — "  Te-hua  —  me!  " 

"  Te-hua  I  " —  he  caught  her  hand  and  knew  that 
she  was  not  a  vision,  though  he  had  first  known  of 
her  in  a  vision.  She  was  a  living  maid,  and  twice  on 
wilderness  trails  had  she  come  to  him ! 

"  Te-hua  — you  ?  "  he  half  whispered,  but  in  Te- 
hua  words  she  could  not  answer  him  —  only  begged 
rapidly  in  Navahu  for  protection  —  and  motioned 
with  fear  towards  the  villages  where  the  tombe  was 
sounding. 

To  give  help  to  an  escaped  captive  of  Te-gat-ha 
while  on  the  trail  to  ask  friendship  of  Te-gat-ha,  was 
an  act  not  known  in  Indian  ethics  —  but  as  when  he 
had  been  wakened  by  her  in  the  canon  of  the  high 
walls  —  so  it  was  now  —  the  outer  world  drifted 
far,  and  the  eyes  of  the  girl  —  pleading  —  were  the 
only  real  things.  In  his  hours  on  the  trail  through 
the  forest  he  had  thought  the  ever-present  picture 
of  her  in  his  heart  might  be  strange  new  magic  for 
his  undoing,  but  to  hear  her  tremulous  girl  voice :  — 
and  to  see  the  broken  thong,  and  the  symbols  of  the 
most  primitive  of  tribal  dances,  drove  into  forgetful- 
ness  the  thought  of  all  magic  that  was  false  magic. 
The  gods  had  sent  the  vision  of  her  in  the  dawn  of 
the  sacred  mountain,  that  he  —  Tahn-te  —  might 
know  her  for  his  own  when  she  crossed  his  trail  for 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  205 


help.  The  Navahu  goddess  of  the  earth  jewel  had 
surely  sent  her  —  else  why  the  pair  of  blue  wings 
between  them?  The  symbolism  of  it  was  conclusive 
to  the  Indian  mind,  and  he  reached  out  his  hand. 

"  Come !  "  he  said  gently.  "  Little  sister, —  come 
you  with  mel" 

********* 

When  the  sentinel  on  the  wall  of  Te-gat-ha  sighted 
a  strange  runner  who  ran  to  them,  and  ran  with 
swiftness,  the  word  went  to  the  governor,  and  he  sent 
his  man  of  the  right  hand  to  the  gate  of  the  wall. 

In  times  of  feasts  these  two  had  met  before  the 
days  when  the  prayers  were  listened  to  by  Tahn-te, 
and  the  greeting  given  to  the  visitors  was  a  greeting 
to  a  friend. 

As  they  crossed  the  court,  Tahn-te  could  see  that 
confusion  and  alarm  was  there.  A  woman  who  had 
been  chidden  was  weeping,  and  the  governor  of  war 
had  his  scouts  at  the  place  in  the  wall  where  the  water 
ran  under  the  bridge  of  the  great  logs  —  that  was  the 
only  place  where  one  could  creep  through  without 
passing  the  gates,  where  the  sentinel  could  always  see. 

"  She  is  a  witch !  "  wailed  the  woman  who  was  in 
tears  — "  The  painting  was  being  done  on  her, —  she 
would  have  been  complete  —  and  then  it  was  the  pot 
boiled  over  in  the  ashes :  —  they  blinded  my  eyes,  and 
the  child  was  in  the  ashes  also,  and  the  body  of  him 
was  burned.  Could  I  see  the  witch  when  my  eyes 
were  blind?  Could  I  hear  the  witch  when  my  child 
screamed?  Could  I  know  she  would  cover  herself 
with  a  deer  skin  and  go  into  the  ground,  or  into  the 
clouds?  On  no  trail  of  earth  can  you  find  her.  She 
is  a  witch  who  brings  bad  luck  to  my  house !" 

But  the  men,  heeding  not  her  words,  went  over  the 
ground  in  ways  towards  the  mountains,  and  looked 


206      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


with  keenness  on  all  the  tracks  of  women's  feet. 

Beyond  the  words  of  the  women,  Tahn-te  heard 
nothing  more  of  the  person  who  was  painted  almost 
to  completeness  ere  she  went  into  the  clouds,  or  into 
the  ground.  It  was  not  etiquette  to  make  questions. 
[The  wise  old  governor  gave  greeting  to  the  visitor  as 
if  no  thing  had  happened  more  unusual  than  the  ris- 
ing or  setting  of  the  sun. 

Tahn-te  had  been  many  times  to  Te-gat-ha  when 
the  Sun  races  were  made  in  the  Moon  of  Yellow 
leaves.  At  that  time  the  Sun  Father  grows  weak,  and 
the  races  are  made  that  he  may  look  down  and  see 
the  earth  children  as  they  show  strength,  and  the 
prayer  of  the  race  is  that  the  Sun  Father  goes  not  far 
away,  but  seeks  strength  also,  and  grows  warm  again 
after  a  season. 

Thus  Tahn-te  knew  kindly  the  people,  and  the 
chief  men  were  called  to  hear  why  a  runner  had  been 
sent  at  this  time  to  the  brothers  of  the  North. 

The  head  men  wrapped  themselves  in  the  robes  of 
ceremony,  the  younger  priests  painted  their  bodies 
with  the  white,  and  into  the  kiva  of  council  they  de- 
scended with  their  visitor  of  high  office. 

On  the  shrine  there,  Tahn-te  placed  a  fragment  of 
the  sun  symbol  taken  from  the  pouch  at  his  girdle. 
Before  a  white  statue  of  the  weeping  god  he  placed 
it,  and  the  Keeper  of  the  Sacred  Fire  there,  breathed 
on  his  hand,  and  threw  fragrant  dried  herbs  of  magic 
on  the  live  coals,  that  all  evil  and  all  discord  be 
driven  out  by  the  fumes,  and  when  the  smoke  drifted 
unwards  and  out  by  the  way  of  the  sky,  the  talk  was 
made. 

With  briefness  Tahn-te  stated  all  heard  in  the 
council  of  Povi-whah  concerning  the  wishes  of  the 
strangers  from  the  South. 


NTO  THE  KlVA  OF  COUNCIL  THEY  DESCENDED 

Page  206 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  207 


The  men  smoked  the  sacred  smoke  of  council  and 
listened,  and  when  all  was  said,  they  nodded  to  each 
other. 

"  That  which  you  say  is  that  which  the  tribes  have 
always  talked  about  when  the  wild  people  came  for 
war.  In  old  days  of  our  fathers,  we  people  of  the 
houses  and  the  fields  did  make  compact  with  each 
other  as  brothers.  But  always  it  has  been  broken, 
often  it  had  to  be  broken.  We  are  far  apart.  When 
the  Yutah  comes  from  the  north,  and  the  Pawnee 
from  the  east  —  and  the  Apache  and  the  Navahu 
from  every  place,  the  men  of  each  village  must 
look  to  their  own  women.  He  cannot  go  to  his 
brother  to  learn  if  he  also  is  having  war." 

"That  is  true,"  said  Tahn-te.  "But  the  wild 
people  fight  and  go  away  again.  If  these  strangers 
find  the  symbol  of  the  sun  in  our  land,  they  will  never 
go  away  —  more  will  come  —  and  then  more  al- 
ways !  I  have  seen  the  talking  leaves  of  their  people. 
If  they  get  room  for  their  feet,  they  then  ask  the 
field;  if  the  way  of  the  door  is  opened  to  them,  they 
then  take  the  house.  They  and  their  animals  will 
ride  us  down  as  the  buffalo  tramp  under  foot  the  grass 
on  the  wide  lands." 

"  That  other  year  the  white  strangers  came.  They 
staid  not  long.  This  time  not  so  many  come  —  next 
time  not  any  ever  come  —  maybe  so !  " 

"  Maybe  so !  echoed  Tahn-te,  but  shook  his  head 
in  sadness.  Like  the  men  of  his  own  village,  these 
men  had  the  hopefulness  of  children  that  all  would 
be  made  well. 

"  If  their  god  is  so  strong  a  god  —  and  they  come 
with  good  gifts,  is  it  not  well  to  make  treaty  and  have 
them  as  brothers?  "  asked  the  old  governor.  "  With 
the  thunder  and  the  lightning  given  to  them  instead 


208      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


of  arrows,  they  could  do  good  warrior  work  for  those 
who  were  precious  to  them." 

"  That  is  so,"  agreed  Tahn-te  — "  but  the  men  of 
dark  skins  will  never  be  precious  to  the  white  men  of 
the  beards  —  except  they  make  slaves  who  obey, — 
who  carry  the  water,  and  bring  wood  for  the  fire." 

"  Men  carry  the  water?  " 

"  They  are  not  men  when  they  become  slaves  — 
they  are  not  people  any  more !  " 

"  We  did  not  hear  that,"  said  the  governor.  "  Do 
these  men  tell  it  that  way?  " 

"  No  —  not  in  that  way.  But  talking  leaves  of 
their  god  tells  them  that  dark  men  of  other  gods 
than  theirs  must  be  ever  as  slaves  to  the  white  men  of 
iron  and  all  of  their  kind.  It  has  been  like  that  al- 
ways. The  talking  leaves  tell  them  how  to  make 
slaves  —  and  how  to  make  war  on  all  people  who  re- 
fuse to  say  that  their  god  must  be  the  only  god." 

"  And  that  white  god  sends  talking  leaves  of  a 
spirit  tree?  " 

"  It  is  so,"  said  Tahn-te :  — "  Many  leaves !  The 
spirit  of  that  tree  was  once  a  strong  spirit,  but  the 
white  people  caught  it  with  magic  and  shut  it  in  a 
book,  and  the  spirit  grows  weak  in  the  book  —  the 
heart  of  the  Most  Mysterious  cannot  be  shut  in  a 
thing  like  that.  They  have  magic,  but  the  heart  does 
not  sing  to  that  magic  —  only  the  eyes  see  it." 

"  Yet  these  strangers  are  wise,"  ventured  one  of 
the  council,  "  such  leaves  might  be  good  to  instruct 
quickly  the  youth  of  the  clans." 

"  It  is  so,"  agreed  Tahn-te  again.  "  But  when 
the  gods  are  caught  in  the  leaves  of  a  book,  is  when 
they  no  longer  speak  in  silence  to  the  hearts  of  men. 
On  a  day  when  we  walk  no  more  on  the  Earth  Trail, 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  209 


the  names  of  our  gods  may  also  be  written  on  the 
leaves  of  a  spirit  tree  that  is  dead.  Think  of  this 
and  warn  your  sons  to  think  of  this !  The  youths  of 
Povi-whah  and  of  Kah-po  hearken  with  joy  to  the 
trumpets  of  the  men  of  iron,  but  the  music  for  the 
desert  gods  is  the  music  of  the  flute  —  let  it  not  be 
silenced  by  trumpets  of  brass  made  by  white  men  who 
conquer!  " 

Some  of  the  men  of  the  council  looked  at  each 
other,  and  wondered  in  their  hearts  if  the  youth  of 
Tahn-te  did  not  make  him  dream  false  things  and 
think  them  true.  It  was  scarcely  to  be  believed  that 
one  people  would  fight  because  another  people  found 
the  Great  Mystery  —  and  prayed  to  It  for  strength 
to  live  well  —  and  to  live  long  —  but  called  It  by 
another  Prayer  Name! 

They  knew  that  in  things  of  sacred  magic  Tahn-te 
was  more  wise  than  any  other;  —  other  youth  were 
trained  only  in  their  own  societies  —  but  the  son  of 
the  Woman  of  the  Twilight  reached  out  for  the 
Thought  back  of  the  outer  thought  in  all  orders,  and 
in  different  tribes. 

Yet  —  they  doubted  him  now  and  for  the  first 
time !  They  did  not  think  that  Tahn-te  spoke  with  a 
crooked  tongue,  but  some  one  had  lied  to  him  in  the 
days  when  he  crossed  the  land  with  the  man  Coro- 
nado ;  —  or  maybe  the  talking  leaves  had  lied  on  some 
dark  night  of  magic ! 

But  however  that  might  be,  the  Great  Mystery  had 
never  sent  the  word  to  kill  a  people  because  of  their 
prayers.  The  men  of  the  council  knew  that  could 
not  be.  But  they  were  respectful  to  the  young  Po- 
Ahtun-ho,  and  they  did  not  say  so.  That  he  had  put 
aside  his  dignity  of  office,  and  come  himself  to  Te- 


210      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


gat-ha  for  council,  was  a  great  honor  for  Te-gat-ha. 

And  they  smoked  in  silence,  and  did  not  say  the 
thing  they  thought. 

But  Tahn-te  the  Ruler,  read  their  hearts  in  their 
silence,  and  for  the  first  time  his  own  heart  grew  sick. 
In  Povi-whah  there  was  the  jealousy  of  the  war 
chief  —  and  of  the  governor  as  well,  and  that,  he 
thought,  made  them  blind  to  much.  But  these  men 
had  only  honor  in  their  hearts  for  him  and  no  jeal- 
ousy. Yet  to  make  them  see  motives  of  the  strangers, 
as  he  saw  them,  was  not  possible ;  and  to  tell  them  that 
the  men  of  iron  gave  worship  to  a  jealous  god  was 
to  brand  himself  for  always  as  foolish  in  their  eyes ! 
They  had  thought  him  wise  —  but  not  again  could 
they  think  him  wise  as  to  the  foreign  men,  or  the  read- 
ing of  their  books! 

The  early  stars  were  alight  in  the  sky  when  the  men 
came  up  from  the  council.  In  the  house  of  the  gover- 
nor the  evening  meal  was  long  ready. 

From  the  place  of  the  dance  in  the  forest,  men  and 
maids  were  coming :  —  under  the  branches  of  the 
great  trees  they  were  coming,  but  among  them  was  not 
the  maid  of  the  thong  and  the  unfinished  paintings. 
Tahn-te,  seeing  that  it  was  so,  ate  with  his  hosts  the 
rolls  of  paper-like  bread,  and  the  roasted  meat  of  the 
deer. 

It  was  a  silent  meal,  for  it  was  his  first  day  of 
failure.  All  other  things  he  had  won  —  but  to  win 
his  brothers  to  brotherhood  againfct  the  strongest 
enemy  they  or  their  fathers  had  ever  met  —  was  a 
thing  beyond  his  strength. 

They  had  chosen  to  be  blind,  and  for  the  blind,  no 
one  can  see! 

Standing  on  the  terrace,  the  governor  spoke  alone 
to  Tahn-te  of  the  thing  which  the  men  of  iron  sought 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  211 


—  it  was  the  same  thing  Alvarado  had  asked  of  when 
he  had  come  north  from  Coronado's  camp.  It  was 
strange  that  the  sign  of  the  Sun  Father  was  a  thing 
the  white  men  sought  ever  to  carry  from  the  land. 
It  must  be  strong  medicine  and  very  precious  to  them ! 

It  was  not  possible  for  Tahn-te  to  make  clear  that 
the  virtue  of  the  yellow  metal  was  not  a  sacred  thinjg 

—  only  a  thing  of  barter  as  shell  beads  or  robes  might 
be. 

"  Is  it  as  they  say," —  said  his  host  after  a  smoke 
of  silence — "  is  it  as  they  say  that  the  Order  of  the 
Snake  is  again  made  strong  by  you  in  Povi-whah?" 

"  It  is  true,"  said  Tahn-te.  "  The  help  I  have  is 
not  much.  The  Great  Snake  they  all  revere  for  the 
sacred  reasons,  but  only  the  very  old  men  know  that 
with  the  Ancients  the  medicine  of  the  wild  brother 
snakes  was  strong  medicine  for  the  hearts  of  men. 
Maybe  I  can  live  long  enough  to  teach  the  young  men 
that  the  strong  medicine  is  yet  ours,  and  that  the  wild 
brother  snake  can  always  help  us  prove  to  the  gods 
that  it  is  ours.', 

"  It  is  true  that  it  is  ours,"  assented  the  old  man, 
— "  and  it  is  good  when  the  visions  come  to  show  us 
how  it  is  ours," — then  after  a  little,  he  added:  — 
"For  the  sleep  you  will  stay  with  my  clan?"  but 
Tahn-te,  standing  on  the  terrace,  shook  his  head  and 
pointed  to  the  south. 

"  Thanks  that  you  wish  me,"  he  said, — "  but  the 
work  is  there  and  the  watching  is  there.  When  the 
smoke  is  over  —  I  ask  for  your  prayers  and  —  I 
go!" 

Steadily  he  ran  on  the  trail  past  the  thickets  of  the 
rose,  and  the  great  rock  by  the  trail  —  steadily  under 
the  stars  a  long  way.  Then  out  of  the  many  small 
night  sounds  of  the  wilderness  he  heard  behind  him 


212      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  long  call  of  a  night  bird  in  flight.  Only  a  little 
ways  did  he  go  when  again  that  little  song  of  three 
descending  notes  came  to  him.  It  was  very  close  this 
time,  but  he  neither  halted  nor  made  more  haste. 
For  all  the  heed  given  it  he  might  not  have  hearkened 
to  it  more  than  to  the  cricket  in  the  grass. 

Yet  it  spoke  clearly  to  his  ears.  He  knew  that 
sentinals  had  been  placed  along  his  trail,  and  as  he 
ran  steadily,  and  alone,  past  each,  he  knew  that  the 
watchers  were  keen  of  eye  and  ear,  and  that  the  last 
two  sent  each  other  the  signal  "  All  is  well," —  also 
he  knew  that  the  signal  would  be  echoed  back  along 
the  trail  until  each  watcher  would  know  that  their 
visitor  was  on  the  trail  alone,  and  all  was  well,  and 
each  could  go  back  to  Te-gat-ha  and  report  to  the  war 
chief,  and  find  sleep. 

The  watchfulness  told  him  also  that  the  maid  they 
sought  was  one  of  importance.  The  visitor  in  the 
sky,  called  by  his  people  the  Ancient  Star, —  and 
called  by  Fray  Luis  the  planet  Venus,  gave  special 
meaning  to  a  captive  from  the  tribe  of  an  enemy.  It 
saved  some  clan  from  devoting  a  son  or  a  daughter 
to  sacrifice. 

He  did  not  halt  at  once  even  after  the  last  call  was 
sent  back  into  the  night,  and  he  was  far  on  the  south 
trail  ere  he  turned  and  more  slowly  retraced  his  steps. 
No  lingering  watcher  must  be  overtaken  by  him  on  the 
trail. 

So  it  was  that  Arcturus  (the  watcher  of  the  night 
when  the  sun  is  away)  was  high  overhead  when  he 
came  again  to  the  place  of  the  great  rock  where  as 
youths,  he  and  his  comrades  climbed  on  each  others' 
shoulders  —  and  even  then  only  the  most  agile  and 
daring  had  scaled  the  smooth  wall,  and  lay  hidden 
there  in  a  water  worn  depression.    Many  scouts 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  213 


might  pass  it  without  thought  that  a  maid  could  be 
hidden  there  ! 

But  the  mere  whisper  of  a  whistle  like  the  bluebird 
call  brought  her  head  over  the  edge,  and  their  eyes 
met  in  the  starlight. 

Half  the  day,  and  half  the  night,  had  she  lain  there 
waiting  for  his  call,  hearing  more  than  once  the  pad 
of  the  feet,  or  the  panting  breath  of  scouts :  —  she  had 
even  heard  words  of  the  sentinels  sent  from  Te-gat-ha 
ahead  of  Tahn-te  —  eager  as  wolves  they  were  in 
search  of  the  maid  —  for  it  was  evil  medicine  most 
potent  to  lose  a  captive  after  the  symbols  of  ceremony 
had  been  drawn  on  the  body ! 

But  all  her  fear  of  them  gave  her  no  fear  of 
Tahn-te.  His  first  look  into  her  eyes  had  been  the 
look  which  said  strange  things,  and  sweet  things  — 
it  was  as  if  he  had  spoken  thanks  that  he  had  found 
her  on  the  trail. 

And  when  he  held  up  his  arm  to  her  in  the  night, 
she  wrapped  closely  the  deerskin  robe  about  her,  and 
slipped  downward  into  his  embrace. 

The  wall  was  so  high  he  had  himself  gone  ahead 
and  dragged  her  up  by  help  of  the  skin  robe.  And, 
strong  though  he  was,  the  weight  of  her  as  she  slipped 
downward  against  him  staggered  him,  and  his  arms 
went  tightly  around  her  slender  girl's  body  to  save 
her,  and  to  save  himself. 

And  in  that  moment  one  of  the  magical  things 
came  to  pass  in  the  starlight,  her  young  breasts  were 
bare  and  held  close  to  his  own  body.  Her  heart  beats 
were  felt  by  him  as  she  lay  limp  for  a  space  in  his 
arms,  and  Tahn-te  knew  that  for  all  other  things  in 
his  life  words  could  be  found  —  but  for  the  thrill  of 
the  touch  of  her  body  there  were  no  words.  It  was 
as  if  a  star  had  slipped  out  of  the  sky  and  given  its 


214       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


glow  and  radiance  to  his  life  —  the  music  of  existence 
had  touched  him  —  and  the  magic  of  it  held  him 
dumb  and  still. 

And  he  knew  that  the  magic  of  the  maid  was  born 
of  the  Great  Mystery,  and  that  a  new  life  for  him 
was  born  as  each  heard  the  heart  beats  of  the  other. 

It  was  as  truly  a  new  marking  for  the  Life  Trail 
as  had  been  the  prayer  made  as  a  boy  at  the  mesa 
shrine  to  answer  the  young  moon  message  of  the  God 
of  the  Wilderness. 

The  maid  stirred  in  his  clasp  and  drew  herself 
shyly  away  from  him.  At  her  first  little  movement, 
his  arms  grew  tense  about  her,  then  they  fell  away, 
and  he  watched  her,  while  with  head  averted  from 
him,  she  arranged  as  well  as  might  be  her  scant  garb. 
There  could  be  no  words  between  them,  but  his  touch 
was  tender  as  he  took  her  hand  and  led  her  out  to  the 
trail.  He  felt  that  she  must  know  all  he  felt  —  and 
all  the  dreams  into  which  the  white  shadow  of  her 
had  entered  —  the  sacred  fourth  shadow  cast  not  by 
the  body,  but  by  the  spirit,  and  linking  itself  with 
kindred  spirit  even  while  the  human  body  breathed 
and  moved  and  cast  the  black  first  shadow  that  all 
people  may  see. 

The  black  first  shadow  all  can  see  as  a  man  moves 
or  as  he  stands  still,  and  the  two  gray  shadows  many 
can  see  after  a  man  is  on  the  death  trail  or  when  the 
breath  has  gone  away.  These  remain  with  a  man 
because  they  are  of  his  body,  but  the  white  shadow 
is  the  shadow  of  the  breath  of  the  Great  Mystery  — 
it  is  as  the  perfume  of  the  flower,  the  song  of  the 
bird,  and  the  love  of  the  man. 

Fear  lent  the  girl  fleetness  as  she  ran  beside  him  in 
the  night,  and  he  marvelled  at  her. —  No  pueblo  girl 
could  have  kept  that  pace.    It  was  plain  that  she  had 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  215 

lived  with  the  rovers  of  the  desert.  All  the  long 
hours  had  she  been  without  food  or  drink,  yet  she  ran 
like  a  boy,  and  with  the  swiftness  of  a  boy. 

When  the  dawn  broke,  and  the  morning  star 
showed  each  the  face  of  the  other,  they  had  reached 
the  trail  by  the  river.  From  the  west  came  black 
wind-swept  clouds  to  meet  the  sun,  and  in  the  south 
the  angered  God  of  Thunder  spoke.  Tahn-te  looked 
at  the  girl  whose  eyes  showed  the  weariness  of  the 
long  strain  —  his  thoughts  dwelt  on  the  woes  she  must 
have  lived  through  ere  he  found  her :  —  plainly  she 
could  not  run  unfed  to  the  hills  of  his  people,  and 
plainly  since  the  storm  was  meeting  them,  the  wise 
time  to  halt  must  be  ere  it  swept  the  valley. 

From  the  well  known  trail  he  had  departed  before 
the  dawn,  and  the  way  they  went  was  a  hard  way 
across  the  heights  where  earth's  heart-fires  had 
split  the  land  and  left  great  jagged  monuments  of 
stone ; — and  red  ash  as  if  even  now  scarcely  free  from 
the  heat  of  flame. 

Into  one  of  the  great  crevices, —  wide,  and  roofed 
by  rock  —  he  led  the  strange  maid.  Water  came 
from  a  break  in  the  great  grey  wall,  and  sand  had 
drifted  there  on  the  wind,  and  the  girl  with  a  moan 
that  was  of  weariness  sank  down  there  where  the  sand 
was.  Tahn-te  felt  himself  strangely  hurt  by  that 
moan  and  wondered  that  it  should  be  so. 

She  was  only  a  maid  after  all,  and  the  little  woeful 
cry  made  him  think  of  a  hurt  child  he  would  have 
lifted  in  his  arms  and  carried  home  to  its  mother. 
But  the  maid  of  the  bluebird  wing  was  far  from 
mother  and  from  her  people;  —  no  words  had  they 
exchanged  in  the  long  trail  of  the  night,  he  knew 
not  anything  but  that  she  spoke  Navahu,  and  would 
have  him  think  she  wished  to  be  Te-hua. 


216       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


When  she  lay  so  very  still  that  he  could  not  see  even 
the  sign  of  life  in  her  face,  he  went  close  and  touched 
her  —  and  then  he  saw  that  the  spirit  of  her  had  truly 
gone  on  the  trail  of  the  twilight  —  she  was  no  longer 
alive  as  other  people  are  alive. 

He  lifted  her  to  where  the  water  ran,  and  with 
prayer  let  the  cool  drops  of  the  living  spring  touch 
her  face  until  the  life  came  back,  and  her  eyes  opened 
wide  with  terror  at  sight  of  him  bending  above  her, 
but  he  whispered  as  to  a  child  — "  Navin  (my  own)  " 
and  then  "  Ka-ye-povi  " — which  was  to  call  her  the 
Blossom  of  the  Spirit,  the  name  had  been  always  with 
him  in  the  Love-maiden  Dream;  —  and  this  maid 
was  the  dream  come  true ! 

He  drew  her  back  from  that  strange  border  land  of 
life  where  the  strong  gods  of  shadow  wait;  —  and 
then  the  whisper  of  the  blossom  name  took  the  fear 
from  her  dazed  eyes  —  she  clung  to  his  hands  and  in 
a  sort  of  breathless  joy  repeated  the  name  "  Ka-ye- 
povi  —  Ka-ye-povi !  " —  Me !    Ka-ye-povi !  ;> 

«  You!  —  Doli  —  Navahu!" 
*  She  nodded  assent.    "  Yes  —  it  is  so  —  now,  " 
she  said — "  but  once  when  little," — she  made  the 
sign  for  the  height  of  a  child  — "  Te-hua,  not  Navahu 
! —  then  Ka-ye-povi !  " 

Thus  it  was  Tahn-te  found  Ka-ye-povi  after  the 
many  years,  and  knew  that  the  Great  Mystery  had  set 
his  foot  on  the  trail  to  Te-gat-ha  that  he,  and  not 
another,  should  find  her! 

From  traders,  and  from  an  occasional  Navahu 
prisoner,  Tahn-te  had  learned  Navahu  words,  and 
Navahu  god  thoughts,  and  now  he  strove  with  eager- 
ness to  speak  their  language,  even  though  haltingly, 
and  question  of  her  coming  to  him  —  to  him ! 

To  a  new  master  she  had  been  sold  by  the  old 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  217 


people  who  had  owned  her  long,  and  many  of  the 
Navahu  had  gone  north  for  deer  —  and  perhaps  for 
buffalo,  and  she  had  been  taken  with  them.  So  far 
had  they  travelled  that  Tse-come-u-pin,  the  sacred, 
had  been  pointed  out  to  her  —  and  as  a  bird  will  seek 
its  own  place  of  nesting,  had  she  sought  the  Te-hua 
land  by  fleeing  to  the  sacred  mountain.  In  the  night 
time  she  had  fled  from  her  new  master, —  from  a  tall 
pine  where  she  had  climbed,  had  she  seen  them  search 
the  trail  for  her.  In  vain  they  had  searched,  and  alone 
she  had  wandered  many  days.  Almost  had  she 
reached  the  Te-hua  towns  of  the  river  when  some 
traders  of  Te-gat-ha  had  found  her  in  the  forest. 
To  their  own  town  they  had  taken  her  and  had  traded 
her  for  shell  beads  and  for  corn  —  the  rest  Tahn-te 
knew! 

He  strung  his  bow  while  he  listened, —  and  while 
the  thunder  shook  the  earth  he  slipped  through  the 
crevices  of  the  rock  and  lay  hidden  at  the  edge  of  a 
mountain  morass  where  the  reeds  grew  tall,  and  wild 
things  fed  —  ahead  of  the  storm  small  animals  might 
cross  the  open  there  to  reach  the  shelter  of  the  rock 
walls  —  and  Ka-ye-povi  must  not  go  unfed. 

A  rabbit  he  killed  and  covered  each  track  of  his  feet 
from  the  place  where  he  picked  it  up.  When  he  took 
it  to  her  it  had  been  cleaned  and  washed  in  a  little 
cascade  below  the  shelter  he  had  found  for  her. 
With  him  he  took  also  dry.  twigs  and  dry  pinon 
boughs,  that  the  fire  made  might  not  carry  the  odor  of 
green  wood. 

The  sheets  of  rain  were  flowing  steadily  towards 
them  from  the  west,  the  earth  trembled  as  the  God  of 
Thunder  spoke,  and  the  lances  of  fire  were  flung  from 
the  far  sky  and  splintered  on  the  rocks  of  the  moun- 
tain. 


218      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


The  maid  lay,  wide  eyed  and  still,  where  he  had 
left  her.  That  she  feared  was  plain  to  be  seen,  and 
at  his  coming  tears  of  gladness  shone  in  her  eyes. 

To  see  that  light  in  her  face  as  he  came  back  to 
her  brought  to  him  a  joy  that  was  new  and  sweet. 
He  did  not  speak  to  her.  He  made  the  fire  in  silence, 
but  at  every  crash  of  the  storm  he  smiled  at  her,  and 
made  prayers,  and  threw  sacred  white  pollen  to  the 
four  ways,  and  the  feeling  that  he  was  as  guardian  to 
the  maid  whose  very  name  had  been  a  part  of  his  boy 
dreams,  was  a  sweet  thought. 

It  was  a  wonderful  thing  that  out  of  the  dreams 
she  had  grown  real,  and  had  covered  the  trails  until 
she  had  reached  him!  It  was  sweet  that  his  hand 
had  touched  her  and  told  him  that  the  maid  was  a  real 
maid  of  pulsing  heart  and  tremulous  breath. 

But  with  all  the  sweetness  of  it,  there  was  a  strange 
thought  fluttering  over  his  mind  like  a  moth  or  a 
butterfly.  It  did  not  find  lodgment  there,  but  it  did 
not  go  quite  away,  and  ere  he  offered  to  her  the  meat 
roasted  in  the  red  coals  of  the  pinon  wood,  he  scat- 
tered prayer  pollen  between  them  as  on  a  shrine. 

The  line  of  the  white  between  them  was  as  the 
threshold  of  a  door  over  which  a  man  may  not  step. 
No  man  crosses  threshold  of  another  if  the  wife  of 
that  man  is  alone  there, —  and  no  brother  goes  into 
the  house  where  his  sister  is  without  other  companion. 
This  was  the  law  from  the  time  of  the  ancient  days, 
and  belongs  to  many  tribes. 

To  the  Navahu  it  did  not  belong,  and  the  maid 
knew  only  that  the  white  pollen  meant  prayer,  and 
that  she  was  circled  by  sacred  things,  and  by  thought 
so  sweet  that  her  eyes  rested  on  the  sands  when  he 
gazed  at  her. 

So  sweet  did  the  thought  grow  that  they  no  longer 


THE  COURIER  AND  THE  MAID  219 


tried  to  speak  as  at  first,  and  compare  words  Navahu, 
and  words  Te-hua ;  —  her  own  forgotten  tongue. 

To  whisper  "  Ka-ye-povi  "  was  sweet,  but  to  think 
"  Doli  "  was  sweeter  —  for  it  had  been  the  vision 
of  the  goddess  of  the  blue  he  had  first  seen  in  the 
pool  of  the  hills;  —  and  to  him  had  come  her  symbol 
dancing  on  the  ripples.  He  wore  it  in  the  banda 
about  his  head;  —  and  he  knew  now  that  the  image  of 
her  would  never  grow  faint  in  his  heart.  Out  of  the 
hand  of  the  Great  Mystery  had  she  come  to  him  that 
the  last  and  best  gift  of  life  should  be  known,  and  that 
the  prayers  to  the  gods  be  double  strong  because  of 
that  knowing. 

Without  daring  to  look  at  her  he  sat  in  silence  and 
thought  these  things,  and  he  felt  that  she  must  know 
what  the  thoughts  were.  The  war  of  the  elements 
was  as  a  background  for  strange  harmonies,  and  the 
low  roaring  clouds  of  darkness  were  but  a  blanket  of 
mist  under  which  the  fire  glow  of  two  hearts  be  felt 
to  shine  near  and  clear,  and  send  to  each  its  signal. 

Then  —  like  a  monster  let  loose,  there  were  broken 
all  bonds  of  the  tornado  on  the  river  hills.  A  black- 
ness as  of  night  covered  the  earth  with  wide  spread 
wings.  With  the  voice  of  thunder  it  came;  —  and 
with  the  strength  of  a  god  it  came. 

Earth  and  stone  were  hurled  on  the  wind  as  if  a 
rain  of  arrows  or  spears  had  been  hurled  by  some 
spirt  of  annihilation. 

Even  breath  had  to  be  fought  for  there, —  and  the 
maid  in  terror  reached  out  her  hands  to  the  man 
across  the  sacred  barrier  and  moaned  pitifully,  and 
in  the  darkness  the  man  drew  her  close  until  her  head 
rested  on  his  breast,  and  his  own  bent  head,  and  his 
body,  sheltered  her. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  GIVING  OF  THE  StTN  SYMBOL 

T WO  nights  had  passed  over  the  world,  and 
the  day  star  was  shining  over  the  moun- 
tains of  the  east  when  the  people  of  Povi- 
whah  saw  again  Tahn-te  the  Po-Ahtun-ho. 

It  was  the  sentinel  on  the  terrace  who  saw  him,  and 
he  was  at  the  ancient  shrine  at  the  mesa  edge,  and  a 
flame  was  there  to  show  that  prayers  were  being 
made  to  greet  the  god  of  the  new  day. 

And  when  he  came  down  from  the  mesa,  and 
looked  at  the  corn  of  the  fields  torn  and  beaten  low 
by  the  great  storm,  his  face  showed  that  he  carried 
a  sad  heart,  and  that  he  had  gone  from  Te-gat-ha 
somewhere  into  the  hills  for  prayer. 

And  to  his  house  went  the  old  men,  and  they 
listened  to  that  which  had  been  decided  by  the  council 
of  Te-gat-ha.  A  man  had  already  arrived  from  Te- 
gat-ha  to  tell  them  that  same  thing,  and  to  tell  them 
that  an  evil  spirit  of  the  forest  who  spoke  as  a  Navahu 
maid,  had  brought  woe  on  the  valley. 

Some  said  it  was  the  Ancient  Star  calling  on  the 
voice  of  the  wind  for  sacrifice,  and  others  said  the 
tornado  had  come  because  the  maid  had  been  let  go 
with  the  sacred  symbols  of  ceremony  painted  on  her 
body,  and  the  gods  of  that  ceremony  called  for  her 
on  the  wind.  But  whichever  way  was  the  true  way, 
the  maid  was  linked  to  spirits  of  evil,  and  the  corn 
of  that  year  would  be  less  than  half  of  a  full  year, 
and  the  Te-gat-ha  men  asked  that  any  Te-hua  man 

220 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  221 


who  found  the  evil  maid  would  send  a  runner  to  tell 
of  it.  Robes  and  blue  beads  would  be  given  for  her : 
—  she  belonged  to  the  god  of  the  star,  or  the  god  of 
the  mad  winds,  and  on  the  altar  with  prayers  must  she 
be  given  to  them,  that  they  be  not  angry. 

Tahn-te  listened  —  and  when  they  said  the  anger 
of  the  sky  had  come  from  the  west,  as  the  maid  had 
come,  he  was  silent. 

His  first  day  of  failure  in  council  had  been  the  day 
when  he  shielded  the  Dream  Maid  on  the  trail. — - 
The  woman  who  had  wept  in  Te-gat-ha  had  said  she 
was  evil  and  a  witch,  and  now  the  men  pointed  to  the 
killed  corn  as  the  work  of  her  magic ! 

No  word  of  his  could  undo  these  things  or  wipe 
them  from  the  Indian  mind.  In  his  own  mind  he 
knew  that  a  weakness  had  come  upon  him.  To  live 
alone  for  the  gods  had  been  an  easy  thing  to  think 
of  in  the  other  days,  but  now  it  was  not  easy,  and  his 
heart  trembled  like  a  snared  bird  at  each  plan  made 
by  the  men  for  the  undoing  of  the  witchmaid  if  she 
should  be  found. 

The  runner  from  Te-gat-ha  looked  strangely  at 
Tahn-te  as  he  walked  across  the  court,  and  to  Ka- 
yemo,  he  said: 

"  You  men  of  Povi-whah  are  good  runners  always, 
and  your  Ruler  of  the  Spirit  Things  has  left  you  all 
behind  always  in  the  race.  Yet  this  time,  to  come 
from  Te-gat-ha,  he  stays  two  sleeps,  and  follows  a 
trail  no  man  sees !  " 

"  In  the  hills  he  has  been  for  prayers  —  so  the  old 
men  say,"  replied  Ka-zemo.  But  Yahn,  whose 
ears  were  ever  open,  gave  stew  of  rabbit  to  the  Te- 
gat-ha  runner  and  asked  many  things,  and  learned 
that  the  storm  had  washed  away  all  tracks  of  feet,  but 
that  the  witch  maid  had  certainly  run  to  the  south  — 


822      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


every  other  way  was  under  the  eyes  of  the  sentinel 
on  the  wall.  By  a  little  stream  to  the  south  had  her 
tracks  been  seen  but  not  in  any  other  place. 

"  Tahn-te  crossed  over  the  trail,"  said  Yahn  and 
laughed.  "  The  priest  of  the  men  of  iron  say  that 
Tahn-te  is  a  sorcerer, —  who  knows  that  he  did  not 
bury  owl-feathers  or  raven-feathers  on  the  way  to 
hide  her  trail?  If  the  witch  maid  was  a  maid  of 
beauty,  is  he  not  already  a  man?  " 

The  man  laughed  with  her,  but  he  had  heard  of  the 
dance  of  Tahn-te  to  the  ancient  stone  god  of  the  hills ! 
The  man  who  danced  there  was  not  the  man  for  the 
cat  scratches  of  Yahn  the  Apache,  and  though  he 
laughed  with  her  because  she  was  pretty  and  a  woman, 
he  was  not  blind  to  her  malice,  and  the  meaning  of 
her  words  went  by  him  on  the  wind. 

But  the  thought  once  planted  in  the  mind  of  Yahn 
did  not  die.  The  face  of  Tahn-te  held  a  trouble 
new  and  strange.  He  walked  apart,  and  the  old  men 
said  he  made  many  prayers  that  the  Great  Mystery 
send  a  sign  for  the  going  of  the  white  strangers. 

In  her  heart  Yahn  thought  as  Tahn-te  thought. 
The  eyes  of  the  man  of  the  priest  gown  went  like 
arrows  through  her  at  times  —  he  looked  like  a  man 
who  knew  all  things.  To  Ka-yemo  he  talked  until 
she  was  wild  with  desire  to  know  the  things  said  be- 
tween them.  It  angered  her  that  Ka-yemo  was  flat- 
tered by  such  attention.  Padre  Vicente  she  hated  for 
his  keen  eyes  and  his  plain  speech  of  her.  Don  Ruy 
and  the  boyish  secretary  had  too  many  moments  of 
laughter  when  her  name  was  spoken  of  to  Juan  Gon- 
zalvo  —  as  it  often  was !  Their  gifts  she  took  with 
both  hands,  and  did  the  talking  for  them  as  agreed, 
but  she  sulked  at  times  even  under  their  compliments, 
and  Don  Diego  instructed  Sah-pah  to  strive  that  the 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  223 


unruly  beauty  be  brought  within  the  Christian  fold. 

The  success  was  not  great,  for  Sah-pah  was  brave 
in  a  new  gift  of  silver  spurs  —  worn  on  rawhide 
about  her  neck,  for  it  was  the  time  of  the  Summer 
dance  when  the  women  choose  companions,  and  love 
is  very  free.  If  the  man  prefers  not  to  share  the 
love  of  the  dame  who  makes  choice  of  him  —  he 
makes  her  a  gift  —  or  she  chooses  one. 

The  pious  Don  Diego  had  the  secretary  give  many 
lines  in  the  "  Relaciones  "  of  this  strange  custom 
where  the  fair  fond  ones  offered  marriage  —  or  ac- 
cepted a  gift  as  memento.  He  even  strutted  a  bit 
that  the  poor  heatheness  offered  to  him  what  best  she 
could  afford  in  exchange  for  the  divine  grace  of  a 
good  sprinkling  of  holy  water.  But  Yahn  said  things 
of  the  baptism  not  good  for  ears  polite,  or  for  the 
"Relaciones,"  and  Sah-pah  scuttled  back  in  fear  to  her 
new  master,  and  told  him, —  and  told  Juan  Gonzalvo, 
that  the  veins  of  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  must  be  cut  open  to 
let  out  the  Apache  blood,  before  they  could  hope  she 
might  be  one  of  the  heaven  birds  in  their  angel  flock ! 

But  Sah-pah  did  not  tell  them  that  the  thing  of 
torment  awaking  Yahn  to  wrath  had  been  the  knowl- 
edge that  Ka-yemo  was  somewhere  across  the  mesa, 
and  the  old  people  laughed  th^t  he  could  not  stay 
longer  from  the  new  wife,  but  had  gone  to  seek  her 
in  the  place  of  the  old  ruins. 

After  that,  divine  grace  had  not  shielded  Sah-pah 
from  vituperation,  and  when  Juan  Gonzalvo  came 
wooing,  Yahn  told  him  that  across  the  hills  was  a 
woman  waiting  for  a  man,  and  dressed  in  fine  skins 
and  many  beads :  —  when  he  or  his  men  had  won 
Koh-pe  the  daughter  of  Tsa-fah,  to  come  back  and 
tell  her.  She  did  not  mean  to  be  won  easier  than  the 
other,  and  without  a  price  I 


22*      THE  FLUTE  OF,  THE  GODS 


Which  was  also  a  novel  statement  for  the  truthful 
record  of  the  adventurers,  and  the  secretary,  on  a 
terrace  above,  heard  it,  and  rolled  on  the  flat  roof  in 
laughter,  and  wrote  it  down  most  conscientiously.  By 
such  light  matters  was  the  dreariness  of  waiting  days 
lessened. 

For  plainly  the  days  were  to  be  of  waiting.  All 
the  good  will  of  gift-bought  friends  helped  the 
strangers  not  at  all  to  the  finding  of  the  trail  of  gold. 
In  the  sands  of  the  streams  some  fragments  no  larger 
than  seeds  of  the  grass  were  found,  and  in  the  canon 
of  Po-et-se  some  of  the  adventurers  dug  weary  hours 
in  the  strange  soil  where  the  traces  are  yet  plain  of 
black  ashes,  and  charred  cinders  far  beneath  the  sage- 
brush growth  of  to-day. 

But  while  the  Te-hua  men  gave  good  will  for  their 
digging,  yet  more  than  that  they  could  not  give,  for 
the  reason  that  no  more  than  two  persons  could  hold 
in  trust  that  secret  of  the  Sun  Father's  symbol  —  and 
only  certain  members  of  the  Po-Ahtun  order  knew 
even  the  names  of  those  two  people. 

After  much  patient  delving  had  Ka-yemo  learned 
that  this  was  so,  for  the  thing  was  not  a  tribal  matter, 
but  a  thing  of  high  medicine  in  the  Po-Ahtun  order. 
Not  even  the  governor  knew  who  held  the  secret. 
When  the  time  came  for  certain  religious  ceremonies, 
some  of  the  yellow  stone  was  placed  on  the  shrine  of 
the  weeping  god  with  other  prayers,  but  it  was  a 
sacred  thing,  as  was  the  pollen  of  the  corn,  and  no 
man  asked  from  whence  it  came.  To  be  told  meant 
that  the  person  told  was  made  guardian  until  the 
death  blankets  wrapped  him.  It  was  a  great  honor. 
No  man  could  ask  for  it.  A  brother  might  not  know 
that  his  brother  was  the  keeper  of  the  trust.  .Only, 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  225 


the  head  men  of  the  secret  order  of  Spirit  Things 
could  know. 

In  vain  Juan  Gonzalvo  swore,  and  Padre  Vicente 
used  diplomacy  and  made  wondrous  fine  impression 
as  the  ambassador  for  the  king  of  all  Spain  and  the 
Indian  Island! 

Don  Ruy  took  the  secretary  and  Yahn  Tsyn-deh, 
and  went  to  the  governor  of  Kah-po  where  his  re- 
ception was  kindly,  but  the  information  given  him 
was  slight. 

That  dignitary  told  him  that  his  men  of  Mexico 
might  dig  great  caves  if  they  chose  in  search  for  the 
yellow  metal  of  the  sun  symbol,  but  that  to  Povi-whah 
had  been  given  the  secret  of  the  gold  at  the  time  when 
Senor  Coronado  had  burned  the  two  hundred  men  at 
the  stake  in  Tiguex.  All  the  old  men  knew  that  gold 
was  the  one  thing  the  men  of  iron  searched  for.  Be- 
fore that  time  all  villages  had  men  who  knew  where 
it  was  hidden  by  the  Sun  Father.  But  a  council  of 
head  men  had  been  called.  It  had  been  a  great 
council  and  long.  At  the  end  of  it,  one  village  was 
chosen,  one  order  of  that  village,  and  two  members 
of  that  order,  and  in  the  ears  of  those  two  alone  was 
whispered  the  hiding  place.  No  man  could  know 
who  the  two  keepers  of  the  secret  might  be,  for  it 
had  to  do  with  sacred  things  and  with  strong  magic, 
and  in  that  way  did  the  villages  decide  to  guard  the 
secret  of  the  High  Sun. 

"  No  chance  here  for  whispers  of  courtiers  and 
king's  counselors  to  get  abroad  in  the  land,"  decided 
Don  Ruy  as  they  mounted  their  horses  for  the  home 
ride  and  Yahn  lingered  to  gossip  with  neighbors. 
"  In  the  south  the  conquerors  could  fight  for  gold  and 
win  it  —  but  in  this  land  of  silence  with  whom  is 
one  to  fight?" 


226      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  Need  you  the  gold  so  much  that  you  must  come 
between  these  poor  people  and  their  god  in  the  sky?  " 
asked  the  secretary  doubtfully,  for  the  attitude  of 
the  two  had  been  of  extreme  politeness  and  not  so 
much  of  comradeship  since  that  morning  of  confes- 
sion when  the  lad  had  owned  himself  a  deficient  page 
in  the  bearing  of  love  messages, — "  Is  the  finding  of 
the  gold  a  matter  of  life  or  of  death?  " 

"  It  pays  for  most  good  things,"  stated  Don  Ruy. 
"  How  know  you  that  I  do  not  beggar  myself  on  this 
expedition?  And  to  go  back  with  empty  hands 
would  win  little  of  favor  for  me  from  even  the  well- 
guarded  Dona  of  the  Mexic  tryst." 

"  You  forget,  Excellency,"  said  the  lad  and  smiled, 
"  she  is  called  mad  you  know  —  and  to  a  mad  maid 
you  might  return  in  a  cloak  of  woven  grasses,  or  of 
shredded  bark,  and  lack  nothing  of  welcome." 

"  Humph !  Only  to  a  mad  maid  dare  I  return 
coatless,  and  find  an  open  gate?  And  suppose  it  be 
another  than  the  gentle  maniac  whom  I  seek? — a 
cloak  of  grasses  would  be  a  sorry  equipment  to  cover 
my  failure." 

"  There  is  one  right  good  blanket  at  your  dis- 
posal," said  the  lad  looking  straight  out  across  the 
river,  yet  feeling  the  color  mount  to  his  hair  as  Don 
Ruy  regarded  him  keenly  and  then  clapped  him  on 
the  shoulder. 

"  I'll  claim  half  of  the  blanket  when  the  day 
comes!  "  he  declared — "  and  in  truth  I'd  not  be  so 
sorry  to  see  the  maid  of  your  discourse  whether  mad 
or  of  sanity.  That  ever  restless  Cacique  who  strives 
to  bar  us  out,  shows  me  that  more  than  one  Indian 
may  have  gone  mad  in  the  same  struggle.  Think  you 
he  must  know  the  keepers  of  the  secret  of  gold?  " 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  2«7 


"  It  would  not  be  strange,  since  he  is  the  head  of 
the  magicians  and  the  worker  of  spirit  things." 

"  God  send  that  Juan  Gonzalvo  gets  not  that  idea 
strongly  in  his  mind  —  it  would  be  the  cap  sheaf  to 
the  stack  of  his  grievances.,, 

"  And  it  would  be  the  one  to  weigh  most  heavily 
with  his  reverence  the  padre  " —  added  Chico.  "  His 
soul  is  set  on  treasure  for  the  Holy  Brotherhood  — 
and  to  win  in  secret  where  Coronado  and  the  church 
failed  with  all  the  blare  of  trumpets,  means  that  no 
man  in  the  Indies  would  have  a  name  written  above 
that  of  the  patient  and  devout  Padre  Vicente." 

"  You  say  things,  lad,  with  a  serious  face ;  —  but 
with  a  mocking  voice,"  commented  Don  Ruy. 
"  Tell  me  truly  if  the  life  of  a  page  in  the  palace 
of  the  Viceroy  teaches  you  so  much  of  politics  and 
holy  orders  that  you  combine  the  two  and  grow 
skeptic  to  each?  " 

"  A  page  sees  more  than  he  understands  — "  re- 
turned the  lad,  "  it  was  the  teaching  of  your  mad 
Dona  of  the  silken  scarf  who  saw  things  as  the  priests 
told  her  they  were  not  to  be  seen, —  she  it  was  who 
taught  me  to  laugh  instead  of  doing  penance." 

"  And  she  it  was  also  no  doubt  who  taught  you  of 
magic  Mexic  things  in  keeping  with  the  fairy  Melissa 
of  Charlemagne's  day,  and  Merlin  the  magian  of 
Britain?" 

"Heigh-ho!  It  is  precious  magic  those  old  ro- 
mancers did  tell  of!  "  agreed  the  lad.  "  Think  how 
fine  it  would  be  if  we  had  those  enchanted  steeds  and 
lances, —  and  the  fair  daughter  of  the  Khan  of  Kathay 
for  company  through  the  wilderness !  " 

"  She  was  too  fickle,  and  too  much  the  weeping 
fair,"  decided  Don  Ruy.    "  Bradamante  the  warrior 


228      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


maid  is  more  to  the  fancy  —  she  would  fight  for  the 
lover  she  loved  —  or  against  him  as  the  case  might 
be,  yet  give  love  to  him  all  the  time!  She  was  the 
very  pole-star  of  those  old  romances  —  but  they  make 
no  such  maids  except  in  books !  " 

"  Not  so  much  pity  for  that,"  commented  the 
secretary.  "  Since  she  was  too  easily  won  for  the 
hearth  stone  of  a  plain  man.  It  is  clearly  set  down 
that  she  spoke  with  her  pagan  lover  but  once,  and 
fell  straightway  so  deep  in  love  that  she  would  fight 
either  Christian  or  Moor  to  find  the  way  to  him.  A 
maid  like  that  looks  well  afar  off,  but  it  would  take 
a  valiant  man  to  house  with  her!  " 

"  How  know  you  aught  of  how  many  times  eyes 
must  meet  —  or  words  be  said  ere  love  comes?  "  de- 
manded Don  Ruy  — "  Bantam  that  you  are !  — ■ 
Must  a  man  and  a  maid  see  summer  and  winter  to- 
gether ere  the  priest  has  work  to  do?  " 

"  Alas  —  and  saints  guard  us !  —  we  need  not  to 
live  long  to  see  denial  of  that!  "  said  the  secretary 
and  shrugged  and  smiled.  "  But  since  a  maid  close 
to  my  own  house  throws  lilies  to  strange  cavaliers, 
it  is  not  for  me  to  make  discourse  of  ladies  light-of- 
love!" 

"  Light-of-love!  —  Jackanapes!  You  know  not 
so  much  after  all  if  you  get  that  thought  cross  wise 
in  your  skull !  My  '  Dona  Bradamante  '  (for  as  yet 
neither  you  or  the  padre  have  given  a  name  to  her!) 
the  '  Dona  Bradamante '  spoke  no  word  the  most  rigid 
duenna  could  have  frowned  down!  If  you  are  her 
foster  brother  you  might  have  gathered  that  much  of 
wisdom  to  yourself!  " 

"  But  —  your  Excellency  —  she  has  never  scattered 
wisdom  broadcast  on  any  one  of  us !  An  elfish  maid 
who  needed  guard  of  both  duenna  and  confessor:  — 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  229 


how  was  a  mere  friend  to  know  that  a  love  of  a  mad 
moment  would  have  made  her  a  wonder  of  wisdom 
and  discretion?  " 

Whereupon  Don  Ruy  suggested  that  he  go  to  the 
devil  and  learn  sense,  and  added  that  if  the  famous 
magic  steed,  or  ring  of  invisibility  were  to  be  found 
in  the  desert  regions  of  these  Indian  provinces,  he 
would  use  them  for  a  peep  into  the  palace  of  the 
Viceroy,  or  the  nunnery  of  the  Dona  of  the  Lily. 
No  ambassador  would  he  (trust.  For  himself  he 
would  see  how  much  or  how  little  of  madness  was 
back  of  the  message  of  the  blossom,  or  the  guerdon 
of  the  silken  scarf. 

"  If  I  were  indeed  a  worthy  page  I  would  make 
a  song  of  your  enchanted  —  or  demented  Dona,  and 
pipe  it  to  you  to  the  tombe  of  the  medicine  workers 
on  the  roofs,'*  declared  the  lad  in  high  glee  that  Don 
Ruy  again  spoke  with  frankness  to  him. 

But  his  excellency  put  aside  the  offer,  content  to 
make  his  own  songs  when  there  was  a  maid  to  listen. 

"  Dame  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  might  listen  —  and  even 
make  herself  beautiful  for  you." 

"  The  Dame  Yahn  is  like  enough  to  make  trouble 
without  the  singing  of  songs!  Whether  it  is  the 
Indian  war  capitan,  or  our  own,  I  know  not  as  to  the 
favorite.  But  some  game  she  is  playing,  and  I  doubt 
if  it  is  for  Juan  Gonzalvo,  despite  his  gifts." 

Padre  Vicente  and  Jose  were  walking  apart  under 
a  group  of  the  white  limbed  cottonwoods,  as  the  two 
riders  drew  near  the  village.  Their  discourse  was 
earnest,  and  the  voice  of  the  padre  was  heard  in  de- 
cision. 

"  That  is  how  it  must  be,  Jose  — "  he  said.    "  You 
have  found  the  way, —  the  gold  is  as  good  as  ours !  " 
"  By  the  faith !  " —  said  Don  Ruy  swinging  from 


230      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  saddle  to  join  them;  "  if  this  be  true  let  us  fill 
wallets  and  break  camp  for  Mexico !  —  there  is  a 
gentle  maniac  over  there  with  whom  I  would  fain 
hold  hands  once  more  —  this  womanless  paradise 
pleases  me  little !  " 

The  padre  regarded  him  with  tolerance,  and  never 
a  blink  of  the  eye  to  denote  remembrance  of  any 
gentle  maniac  in  particular.  Since  the  dame  had 
served  a  worthy  purpose,  forgotten  was  all  the 
episode ! 

"It  is  well  you  know  the  good  tidings  of  Jose," 
he  said  — "  though  there  is  no  hint  that  the  gold  is 
piled  in  bars  waiting  for  the  lading.    Speak,  Jose." 

"  It  is  a  man  of  Ni-am-be,"  said  Jose  "  He 
has  been  outcast  for  a  reason.  He  lives  alone,  and 
the  fear  of  the  alone  is  growing  in  him,  for  he  is 
old !  He  was  one  of  the  men  who  made  medicine  to 
forget  where  the  sign  of  the  Sun  Father  hides  in 
the  earth.  But  the  medicine  was  not  good  medi- 
cine." 

"  He  does  not  forget?" 

"  He  made  a  vow  to  the  sky  to  forget,  but  the  sky 
did  not  listen  and  take  the  vow.  He  does  not  for- 
get." 

"  And  he  will  show  the  place?  " 

"  It  may  be  he  will  show  the  place.  He  asks  me 
if  it  is  a  good  life  to  live  with  your  people,  also  if 
you  would  take  him  away  when  you  go." 

"  Oh  —  ho !  —  he  fears  what  would  happen  if  he 
was  left  behind  after  telling  —  he  fears  they  would 
kill  him?" 

"  Not  so  much  of  the  to  kill  is  he  afraid.  He  was 
a  medicine  man.  He  knows  what  the  other  medicine 
men  could  do.    He  would  wish  for  the  to  die  many 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  231 


times  and  they  would  not  let  death  come  near  to  his 
cave  in  the  rock." 

"  By  their  magic?  "  asked  Don  Ruy. 

"  By  their  magic,  Excellency.  Of  all  the  head  men 
is  he  afraid,  but  of  Tahn-te  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  who  has 
the  sight  of  the  dark  is  he  much  afraid." 

"The  sight  of  the  dark?" 

"  It  is  so,  some  men  are  born  into  the  world  with 
it.  They  know  the  thought  of  the  other  man, — 
they  see  the  hidden  things.  Tahn-te  has  the  strong 
medicine  and  the  eyes  to  see.  He  is  much  afraid  of 
Tahn-te  the  Ruler." 

"  You  see  the  power  of  these  necromancers  with 
their  satanic  arts?"  said  Padre  Vicente.  "We 
must  make  it  plain  to  these  people  that  such  fear  is 
to  be  driven  out  only  by  the  true  church  and  the 
power  of  its  saints." 

"  If  we  wait  for  the  gold  until  we  teach  them  all 
that,  the  profit  of  this  journey  will  be  to  our  heirs 
and  not  to  ourselves,"  decided  Don  Ruy.  "  Pay  the 
renegade  for  the  secret  he  should  have  forgotten, 
take  him  along  with  us,  and  convert  him  at  your 
leisure.  In  all  good  time,  and  with  a  larger  guard  of 
men,  you  can  come  for  the  further  conversion  of  the 
tribe." 

"  There  is  wisdom  in  what  you  say,"  replied  the 
padre,  "  for  converts  here  will  mean  a  waiting  game. 
But  once  let  us  take  to  Mexico  the  golden  proof  of 
the  wealth  in  this  province  and  there  will  be  eager 
troops  and  churchmen  in  plenty  to  cross  the  deserts 
and  defend  the  faith.  But  for  that  devil-possessed 
Po-Ahtun-ho  the  road  to  success  would  be  shorter." 

"  It  is  not  good  luck  to  say  things  against  the  man 
of  strong  magic,"  stated  Jose.    "  Ka-yemo,  the  war 


232      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


capitan  would  like  if  Tahn-te  had  never  come  from 
the  land  of  the  Hopitu —  but  Ka-yemo  says  no  evil 
words  of  Tahn-te  —  he  knows  that  Tahn-te  has  ears 
to  hear  far  off,  and  eyes  to  see  in  the  dark." 

"Do  you  forget  you  are  a  Christian  soul?"  de- 
manded the  padre.  "  The  holy  saints  can  kill  the 
evil  powers  even  in  the  sons  of  Satan  I  Let  me  hear 
no  more  of  the  1  eyes  of  the  dark;1 — pagan  trick- 
ery!" 

Jose  said  no  more,  but  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the 
veneer  of  foreign  ritual  had  made  little  impression 
on  the  Indian  mind.  He  feared  all  the  devils  of  the 
Christian  hell,  and  most  of  the  gods  of  the  pagan 
pantheon.  A  policy  of  propitiation  towards  all  the 
unseen  powers  is  the  wise  and  instinctive  attitude  of 
the  primitive  mind.  He  slipped  his  prayer  beads 
through  his  fingers  as  taught  for  prayer,  but  to  be 
quite  certain  that  evil  be  bribed  to  keep  its  distance, 
he  stealthily  scattered  prayer  meal  as  he  walked  be- 
hind the  others,  and  Yahn  who  was  coming  behind 
them,  saw  him,  and  laughed.  She  was  glad  of  heart 
to  see  that  the  Te-hua,  after  years  of  the  white  man's 
religion,  was  still  at  heart,  a  devotee  of  the  Sun. 

"  He  says  that  Tahn-te  the  Ruler  has  not  the 
strong  magic,"  he  said  lowly  to  Yahn  — "  but  no 
one  else  says  so  in  this  land." 

Yahn  did  not  care  to  discuss  the  power  of  Tahn-te 
6 —  it  was  a  bitter  thing  in  her  days. 

And  as  the  little  group  went  on  through  the  fra- 
grant sage  and  the  yellow  bloom,  Tahn-te  himself 
stood  almost  on  their  trail,  but  a  little  to  one  side 
where  a  knoll  was. 

Still  as  a  thing  of  stone  he  stood  there.  His  hand 
shaded  his  eyes  while  he  gazed  across  the  sage  levels 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  .  283 


—  across  the  water  of  the  river  and  to  the  yellow 
and  red  sands  beyond. 

Even  at  their  footsteps  near,  and  their  voices,  he 
made  no  sign  and  wavered  not  in  his  gaze.  Don 
Ruy  glancing  at  him  saw  that  his  expression  was 
keen,  yet  incredulous.  So  strange  was  it  that  Don 
Ruy  instinctively  turned  in  his  saddle  to  see  the  thing 
at  which  Tahn-te  looked  and  frowned. 

At  first  he  could  see  only  the  wavering  lines  of  heat 
across  the  level  —  and  then  he  saw  the  thing,  and 
with  a  word  halted  the  others  and  pointed. 

Out  of  the  red  and  yellow  sand  and  soft  green 
patches  of  the  desert  growth  a  group  of  men  were 
outlined  against  the  low  hills.  Indians  with  lances 
and  with  shields. 

"  That  is  a  curious  thing,"  said  Don  Ruy.  "  They 
walk  this  way  yet  their  steps  bring  them  not  closer ! 
Is  it  a  war  party?  " 

Yahn  gave  one  look,  drew  her  breath  sharply,  and 
turned  speechless  to  Tahn-te.  Jose  after  a  long  look 
crossed  himself  many  times  and  gripped  the  sleeve 
of  the  padre. 

M  Navahu !  "< —  he  muttered,  the  terror  of  his  an- 
cient first  captors  coming  over  him.  "  Navahu  to 
battle!" 

But  Tahn-te  made  a  little  gesture  to  reassure  the 
startled  interpreter. 

"  You  do  not  see  men  alive  there/'  he  said, — 
"  these  are  not  men,  but  the  shadows  of  men  who  will 
come." 

"  Shadows?" — the  tones  of  the  padre  were  con- 
temptuous. 

"  Spirit  people  of  the  shadows  —  these  things  do 
come  to  some  eyes,  some  days,  in  our  land,"  stated 


234       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


Tahn-te  quietly.  "  This  time  you  have  also  been 
given  to  see  that  these  things  are." 

Even  as  he  spoke  the  mirage  of  the  armed  men 
faded  in  a  whirl  of  sand  caught  up  by  a  wandering 
wind,  and  while  the  others  still  stared  at  the  place 
where  it  had  been,  Tahn-te  passed  them  and  ran  with 
easy  stride  across  the  levels  to  Povi-whah. 

The  Spanish  crossed  themselves,  and  even  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh  trembled.  Tahn-te  had  chosen  to  show  the 
men  of  iron  that  his  medicine  was  strong  to  bring 
visions,  and  what  was  most  wonderful  ■ —  to  bring 
them  before  the  eyes  of  other  men ! 

Jose  was  shaking  with  fear. 

"  All  things  he  hears,"  he  muttered  — "  all  things! 
Under  the  trees  we  spoke  words  —  far  off  they 
reached  his  ears!  He  waited  to  show  us  that  his 
eyes  were  for  the  dark  or  the  day  —  or  —  the  dead! 
The  spirit  men  were  Navahu.  Holy  Father,  he  can 
bring  all  the  men  who  ever  died  to  tramp  us  into  the 
sand!    Holy  Father,  my  heart  is  very  sick!  " 

The  others  were  silent.  All  were  awed,  and 
Padre  Vicente  was  thinking  what  was  most  wise  to 
say.  There  were  enough  in  the  group  for  strong 
witness  that  Tahn-te  had  shown  them  a  thing  which 
did  not  exist;  —  only  a  sorcerer  could  call  up  men 
out  of  the  earth  and  send  them  away  on  the  wind! 

"  In  the  sorcery  we  had  no  part,  my  children,"  he 
said  at  last.  "  The  man  who  raised  those  demons 
fled,  as  you  see,  at  the  sign  of  the  cross !  To-morrow 
morning  we  have  a  mass.  It  is  well  to  walk  in 
prayer,  when  Satan  works  with  his  chosen  helpers." 

Don  Ruy  looked  at  him  sharply  —  for  the  mirage 
could  not  be  a  thing  of  wonder  for  so  travelled  a  man. 
But  his  was  not  the  task  to  correct  eminence  as  to 
natural  or  infernal  agencies,  and  the  effect  on  the 


GIVING  OE  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  235 


minds  of  the  two  interpreters  might  prove  a  thing  of 
grace ! 

Therefore  he  bent  his  head,  and  rode  onward,  and 
smiled  at  the  secretary,  who  was  careful  to  ride  close, 
and  showed  none  too  much  of  courage  at  this  glimpse 
of  the  magic  of  the  barbarian  who  clasped  hands  with 
the  gods  —  or  the  demons ! 

"  What  dare  be  written  in  the  "  Relaciones  "  of  a 
thing  like  that?"  he  queried. — "You  smile,  Excel- 
lency, as  if  you  carried  a  magic  shield,  or  enchanted 
sword  lifted  from  pages  of  old  romance,  but  what 
think  you  Senor  Brancadori  will  say  to  this  thing  of 
wonder?  It  does  not  belong  to  the  living  world  we 
know." 

"  Let  it  not  get  into  your  dreams,"  suggested  Don 
Ruy  — "  or  if  you  do,  content  yourself  with  the  fancy 
that  I  indeed  bear  a  magic  shield  and  am  ever  near 
enough  for  you  to  hide  behind  it." 

"  I  am  not  so  much  a  coward!  "  retorted  the  lad, 
— "  to  die  for  a  good  cause  in  any  human  way  is  not 
a  thing  to  fear  —  but  these  magical  works  — " 

i 4  Without  doubt  they  do  belong  to  the  sorcery  o£ 
Satan,"  said  Don  Ruy  soberly,  yet  with  an  eye  on  the 
padre  — "  and  yon  supple  racer  is  of  course  one  of 
his  heirs.  Stay  you  close  to  me,  lad,  and  forget  not 
you  orisons." 

When  they  reached  the  camp,  a  herald  was  calling 
to  the  people  from  the  terraces.  He  was  calling 
for  all  the  men  to  prepare  for  battle.  In  a  vision 
of  the  bright  day  had  Tahn-te  seen  the  coming  of  the 
Navahu.  The  medicine  of  Tahn-te  was  strong. 
Not  at  home  would  they  wait  for  battle.  To  steal 
women  had  the  enemy  taken  the  trail  to  the  dwellings 
of  the  Ancient  ruins  in  the  hills,  and  there  must  the 
warriors  prepare  to  meet  them  on  the  trail. 


236       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


The  names  of  men  were  called  as  scouts,  and  the 
response  was  quick,  as  one  after  another  ran  to  the 
kiva  for  orders,  and  then  started  on  the  run  towards 
mesa  and  forest. 

Don  Ruy  looked  after  them  with  eyes  perplexed. 

"  Does  the  Cacique  regard  the  mirage  with  earnest- 
ness?" he  said  to  the  padre  who  also  watched  and 
listened.  "  The  man  has  a  quick,  good  brain  and 
marvellous  understandings, —  but  to  prepare  for 
battle  because  of  a  sun  picture  in  the  sand  is  scarce 
what  I  looked  for  in  him." 

Padre  Vicente  smiled  with  his  lips,  and  stroked  his 
beard. 

"  You  have  yet  to  learn  that  the  Indian  magic 
workers  let  no  tricks  go  by  to  prove  their  greatness," 
« —  he  said.  "  That  wench  and  Jose  were  witness 
to  the  thing  —  thus  he  must  claim  it  as  his  own ! 
[When  the  scouts  find  no  Navahu  warriors,  be  sure  it 
will  be  for  the  reason  that  the  magic  of  the  sorcerer 
caused  them  to  turn  back  in  weakness  on  the  trail!  " 

"  That  will  but  strengthen  his  power,  if  it  be  so," 
agreed  the  younger  man, — u  and  how  will  you  sur- 
mount that  fear  of  him,  and  win  the  renegade  of 
Ni-am-be  to  give  the  word  we  need?  " 

"  Protection  and  a  life  of  ease  away  from  the 
Indian  magicians  is  a  good  bribe  for  an  outcast, —  and 
it  may  be  that  fortune  plays  into  our  hands.  I  could 
wish  that  the  Cacique  would  follow  the  scouts  with 
his  mummeries  and  incantations.  You  see  how  they 
have  taught  even  Jose  the  fear  of  him!  " 

"  Yes  —  I  do  see,  and  but  for  the  story  that  in  this 
one  village  is  held  the  gold  secret,  I  should  say  to 
move  camp  to  some  province  where  bookish  caciques 
hold  no  sway.  How  account  you  for  the  keen  brain 
of  this  wonder-worker?    We  have  pampered  and 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  237 


tutored  numbskulls  in  Seville  who  know  not  even  their 
own  creed  so  well  as  it  is  known  by  this  heretic  bar- 
barian." 

"  Without  doubt  it  is  the  power  of  the  Prince  of 
Darkness,"  and  Padre  Vicente  gave  the  opinion  with 
all  due  force  —  having  in  remembrance  that  scene 
of  the  gift  of  the  rosary  in  the  kiva,  and  seeing 
clearly  that  the  Spanish  adventurer  had  more  than  a 
little  of  admiration  for  the  unexpected  daring  of  the 
pagan. — "  Witchcraft  and  sorcery  are  of  the  Devil, 
and  both  white  men  and  savages  do  trade  their  souls 
for  evil  knowledge.  To  strip  him  of  his  ill-gotten 
power  would  be  a  work  of  grace  for  the  Faith  —  and 
it  is  a  thing  for  which  each  Christian  should  gladly 
say  many  prayers !  " 

Don  Ruy  well  knew  that  these  ardent  words  were 
directed  at  his  own  luke-warmness  in  regard  to  the 
young  Ruler.  Maestro  Diego  and  Juan  Gonzalvo 
had  distanced  him  in  setting  a  good  example  to  the 
men  of  the  guard ! 

A  messenger  from  the  kiva  approached  and  spoke 
to  Yahn,  and  she  came  to  the  Spaniards  with  a  mes- 
sage. 

A  council  was  in  the  kiva.  It  was  about  war  if 
war  came.  The  Po-Ahtun-ho  thought  it  was  good 
that  one  of  the  white  visitors  be  asked  to  sit  and 
listen;  Don  Ruy  was  invited  to  be  that  one.  The 
man  Jose  was  to  interpret. 

Don  Ruy  speculated  as  to  the  cause  of  this  cour- 
tesy. The  Ruler  certainly  did  not  desire  the  help  of 
the  white  men  —  the  message  did  not  even  say  as 
much.  But  it  was  plain  that  there  were  two  parties 
on  that  question,  and  Tahn-te  meant  to  show  no  fear 
of  his  opponents.  They  would  see  he  gave  them  fair 
chances. 


238      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


So  he  went,  and  Jose  followed,  and  Yahn 
watched  them  —  to  her  great,  yet  silent  rage. 

Ka-yemo  only  reached  the  village  as  the  last  scout 
was  started  for  the  trail  of  the  Po-et-se  canon. 
Ka-yemo  was  the  official  for  the  war  orders,  yet  the 
orders  had  been  given  without  speech  with  him  I 
Over  his  head  had  it  been  done,  and  his  protest  to  the 
governor,  and  to  the  old  men  in  council  brought  him 
little  of  pride  or  of  comfort. 

"  On  the  trail  to  see  your  wife  you  might  have 
died,"  said  one  of  the  old  men, —  "  or  on  the  way 
coming  home.  How  could  we  know?  If  you  die 
and  we  have  to  fight  —  we  have  to  fight  without  you. 
Before  you  were  born  we  fought  without  you." 

"I  was  not  to  see  a  wife!"  protested  Ka-yemo. 
"  I  can  stay  away  like  other  men.  Some  one  has 
talked  crooked !  I  was  on  the  mesa  talking  with  the 
guardians  who  make  the  arrow  heads.  To  the  far 
away  ones  I  talked.  The  women  send  word  to  them 
that  they  are  afraid.  A  ghost  is  at  Puye.  All  the 
women  but  the  Twilight  Woman  are  much  fright- 
ened.   They  want  men." 

"Good!"  said  the  governor.  "  The  scouts  are 
already  on  the  trail.  If  men  are  needed,  each  man 
is  ready  and  each  spear  is  waiting.  To  the  Po- 
Ahtun-ho  has  been  shown  a  vision  of  the  enemy  —  it 
was  not  a  time  to  wait  for  council." 

Ka-yemo's  handsome  face  was  still  sulky.  The 
vision  of  Tahn-te  might  have  waited.  He  had  come 
down  with  a  fine  new  story  of  a  ghost  seen  in  the 
ruins  of  Puye,  and  it  was  ignored  because  Tahn-te 
the  Po-Athun-ho  had  found  a  vision! 

Tahn-te  entered  not  at  all  into  the  discussion  of 
the  confiscated  rights  of  Ka-yemo.  Even  of  the 
ghost  frightening  the  women  he  asked  no  question. 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  239 


Many  things  of  war  were  talked  of  if  the  Navahu 
should  come  to  steal  women  or  corn,  and  the  dusk  of 
the  twilight  crept  after  the  vanished  sun  when  Tahn- 
te  turned  at  last  to  the  war  chief. 

"  Ka-yemo,  with  the  men  of  iron  you  have  spoken 
much  and  often,"  he  said  quietly.  "  Do  you  know 
who  told  them  first  that  in  Povi-whah  was  held  the 
secret  of  the  yellow  metal  for  which  they  search?  " 

The  tongue  of  Ka-yemo  became  stiff  as  all  sat  silent 
waiting  for  his  answer. 

"The  padre  asked  me," — he  said  at  last, — "  the 
padre  always  makes  people  speak  —  I  told  the  padre 
that  which  I  had  heard." 

There  was  a  slight  stir  among  the  men,  but 
Tahn-te  quieted  them  with  a  glance. 

"  The  priest  of  the  iron  men  has  also  been  told  one 
other  thing,"  he  continued  — "  and  it  is  well  for  you 
all,  brothers,  that  you  hear  this  thing.  Oh-we-tahnh, 
the  outcast  of  Ni-am-be,  was  a  strong  medicine  man. 
He  used  magic  in  a  dark  way  for  evil.  His  power 
was  taken  from  him.  He  was  told  by  the  council 
to  forget  the  secret  of  the  sun  symbol.  Brothers,  he 
has  not  forgotten !  He  has  come  to  the  camp  of  the 
men  of  iron.  He  eats  their  food:  —  last  night  he 
slept  by  their  walls." 

"  Our  brothers  of  Ni-am-be  will  not  be  glad  with 
us  if  we  let  this  be,"  stated  one  man.  "  The  evil 
magic  must  be  outcast  always." 

"  Send  some  one  and  find  the  man,"  said  Tahn-te. 
"  When  the  sun  of  to-morrow  comes,  all  who  listen 
here  may  be  on  the  war  trail.  It  is  not  good  to  leave 
a  coyote  loose  to  do  harm  when  no  one  watches." 

In  a  little  while  the  outcast  was  brought  into  the 
circle.  He  cringed  with  fear,  and  his  eyes  were  rest- 
less as  those  of  a  trapped  wolf.    The  governor  ques- 


UO      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


tioned  him  as  to  his  presence  there,  reminding  him 
that  the  council  of  Ni-am-be  had  granted  him  life 
only  if  he  take  that  life  out  of  sight  of  his  kind. 
Why  then  did  he  come  to  Povi-whah  and  stay  in  the 
camp  of  the  strangers? 

His  only  reply  was  that  he  would  go  now,  and  he 
would  go  quickly. 

"No  —  not  quickly,"  said  Tahn-te.  "You  will 
not  go  quickly  any  where  ever  again.  I  am  looking 
at  you !    I  say  so!  " 

The  man  stared  at  Tahn-te  like  a  bird  that  was 
under  a  charm.  All  the  others  saw  the  steady  gaze 
of  Tahn-te,  and  saw  also  that  the  outcast  began  to 
tremble. 

"  Hold  out  your  hand,"  said  Tahn-te,  and  when 
it  was  done,  Tahn-te  took  from  his  medicine  pouch 
some  pieces  of  yellow  gold.  They  were  heavy,  he 
passed  them  around  until  all  might  see,  then  he  put 
the  gold  in  the  hand  of  the  outcast. 

"  Your  clan  was  a  proud  clan  and  good,  and  you 
made  them  ashamed,"  said  Tahn-te.  "  You  had 
strong  medicine  and  you  used  it  for  evil  until 
your  name  must  not  be  spoken  by  your  brothers.  To 
these  men  of  iron  you  would  trade  that  which  is  not 
yours :  Without  speech  of  council  you  would  do  this 
—  and  to  do  it  would  be  traitor !  Because  your  heart 
wishes  to  give  the  sun  symbol  to  these  strangers,  I 
send  you  to  them  with  what  your  hand  can  hold.  To 
the  priest  of  the  white  god  give  it!  Tell  him  I,  the 
Po-Ahtun-ho,  send  it,  and  no  more  than  that  will  he 
ever  see  here  in  Povi-whah.  Tell  him  that  the 
weight  of  it  makes  your  hand  shake  and  your  body 
shake.  Tell  him  that  the  sickness  is  now  in  your 
blood,  and  when  the  day  comes  again  your  tongue 
cannot  make  words  to  tell  him  things.    Tell  him  if 


GIVING  OF  THE  SUN  SYMBOL  241 


his  men  put  you  in  the  saddle,  or  carry  you  to  the 
hidden  place  of  the  Sun  Father,  that  the  light  of  your 
eyes  will  go  out  on  the  trail !  I  am  looking  at  you ! 
—  and  you,  who  once  had  a  name,  and  were  a  worker 
of  magic,  know  that  I  look  on  you  with  Power,  and 
that  it  will  be  as  I  say." 

He  stooped  and  drew  in  the  ashes  of  the  place  of 
fire,  the  figure  of  a  man  with  hand  stretched  out,  then, 
with  a  breath,  he  sent  the  ashes  in  a  little  cloud  and 
each  line  was  obliterated. 

"  To  destroy  you  would  not  be  good," —  he  con- 
tinued. "  It  is  better  that  the  boys  and  the  young 
men  see  the  fate  given  to  a  traitor.  My  brothers, — 
is  this  well?  " 

"  It  is  well!  "  said  the  men,  but  the  voice  of  the 
war  chief  was  not  loud,  and  his  hands  shook  until 
he  clasped  them  together  and  held  them  steady. 

Tahn-te  looked  around  the  circle  as  though  unde- 
cided, and  then  rested  on  Ka-yemo. 

"  You  speak  the  words  of  the  Castilian  man,  and 
like  to  speak  them,"  he  said  quietly,  "  so  it  will  be 
well  for  you  to  make  the  words  for  this  man  who 
carries  to  their  priest  the  gift  of  the  sun  symbol. 
Forget  no  thought  of  it  —  for  all  the  words  have 
meaning." 

And  this  speech  to  Ka-yemo  was  in  Castilian,  and 
was  plainly  said,  and  Ruy  Sandoval  knew  then  why 
the  courtesy  of  the  council  had  been  extended  to  him. 

And  the  outcast,  holding  the  nuggets  in  his  trem- 
bling outstretched  hand  shook  so  that  he  could  not  go 
alone  up  the  ladder  to  the  world  above. 

Ka-yemo,  with  a  still,  strange  face  of  fear,  put 
out  his  hand  to  help  the  outcast,  who  looked  as  if 
Great  King  Death  had  called  his  name. 

No  more  words  were  spoken,  and  the  men  in  silence 


242      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


followed  after.  They  had  seen  a  thing  of  strong 
medicine,  and  the  Great  Mystery  had  sent  power 
quickly.  That  palsy  by  which  the  man  had  been 
touched  had  come  with  the  swiftness  of  the  wind 
when  it  whirls  the  leaves  of  the  cottonwood.  They 
all  knew  that  the  tongue  would  be  dumb,  and  the 
eyes  would  be  blind  in  the  given  time  if  need  be. 

And  Don  Ruy  like  the  others,  was  touched  with 
awe  of  the  man  who  had  wrought  the  thing.  As  he 
went  up  the  ladder  he  looked  back  at  the  Ruler  who 
sat  still  —  gazing  into  the  ashes  of  the  place  of 
sacred  fire. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  TRUE  VISION 

THE  sentinels  on  the  terrace  who  watched 
the  night  in  Povi-whah  knew  these  were 
nights  when  they  did  not  watch  alone.  The 
Po-Ahtun-ho  was  abroad  in  the  night  for  prayer,  and 
when  they  made  reports  in  the  morning,  they  knew 
that  he  had  not  waited  for  such  reports  ere  being 
wise  as  to  each  shining  path  of  a  bright  spirit  sent 
earthward  by  the  Great  Mystery, —  or  each  shadow 
passing  over  the  Mother  of  the  Starry  Skirt,  or  the 
nearness  of  the  visiting  Ancient  Star  to  the  constella- 
tions on  its  trail  to  the  twilight  land  of  many  days. 

They  knew  he  was  watching  the  world  overhead. 
With  the  Pin-pe-ye,  that  mystic  compass  of  the  Milky 
Way,  was  he  balancing  the  fate  of  things  as  written 
in  the  light  of  the  Sky  Mother  whose  starry  skirt  was 
a  garment  to  which  departed  souls  cling.  So  many 
are  the  souls  of  earth  people  that  their  trail  makes 
luminous  the  white  way  of  the  sky,  and  all  the  world, 
and  all  the  people,  can  of  course  be  seen  from  that 
height  of  the  sky,  and  when  a  dart  of  heat  lightning 
sped  earthward  to  the  west,  the  sentinels  cast  prayer 
meals  and  knew  that  Those  Above  were  sending  mes- 
sages to  Tahn-te  who  prayed  as  no  other  prayed. 

And  on  the  heights  were  his  prayers,  for  ever  it  was 
to  the  mesa  and  beyond  that  his  trail  led  since  the 
mighty  wrath  of  the  wind  by  which  the  corn  was 
broken  to  earth.    The  darkness  was  often  running 

243 


244       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


from  the  dawn  ere  he  came  'downward  from  the  hills 
into  the  valley. 

A  scout,  speeding  eastward  from  the  mountains 
in  the  dawn  saw  him  coming  down  from  the  ancient 
place  of  the  Reader  of  the  Stars  in  Puye  —  the 
sacred  place  where  no  other  reader  of  the  Sky  Things 
goes  in  the  night.  The  Lost  Others  are  known  to 
abide  there,  and  mourn  the  barren  field  of  the  older 
day. 

At  times  strange  magic  circles  the  ancient  dwellings 
of  the  cliff.  Before  a  storm,  light  flickers  like  fiery 
butterflies  above  the  fallen  walls  on  the  summit. 

For  this  reason  was  it  deemed  holy,  and  for  this 
reason  were  the  women  of  Shufinne  much  afraid  when 
the  ghost  of  a  woman  was  seen  plainly  there  between 
the  edge  of  the  cliff,  and  the  silver  disk  of  the  moon. 

The  scout  carried  this  word,  and  Tahn-te  who 
had  been  seen  coming  from  prayers  there,  listened, 
but  gave  little  heed;  —  the  women  had  seen  shadows, 
and  the  older  men  said  they  were  only  weary  that  the 
men  were  so  far  across  the  mesas.  Fire  out  of  the 
sky,  or  out  of  the  earth,  had  often  danced  on  those 
heights,  but  no  woman  had  been  there  in  a  ghost  form 
ever  in  the  memory  of  men. 

Much  more  were  they  intent  to  know  of  any  trace 
of  warriors  on  the  hills,  but  only  smoke  had  been 
seen  far  beyond  the  place  of  the  boiling  water  of  the 
hill  springs,  and  the  smoke  could  easily  be  of  Ua-lano 
hunters.  Other  scouts  were  yet  to  come.  They  had 
made  longer  runs.  This  man  had  been  told  to  return 
at  dawn  of  the  day. 

So  the  word  went  abroad,  and  in  the  Castilian 
camp,  Don  Diego  gave  fervent  thanks.  He  was  none 
too  well  pleased  that  to  secure  records  for  the 
"  Relaciones  "  it  might  be  necessary  to  carry  a  spear 


THE  TRUE  VISION  245 


against  the  heathen.  It  had  been  plainly  understood 
in  far  off  Mexico  that  the  people  to  be  visited  were 
not  a  hostile  people.  They  were  to  be  found  waiting 
for  salvation,  and  with  good  gold  to  pay  for  it ! 

The  offer  of  the  padre  to  give  aid  in  battle  to  their 
Indian  brethren,  had  been  but  a  courteous  pleasantry 
when  uttered.  It  was  a  different  matter  when  scouts 
were  sent  abroad  by  the  pagan  Ruler  to  seek  trouble 
and  bring  it  home  to  all  of  them! 

Trouble  enough  was  he  brewing  by  that  gift  to 
the  padre  of  the  sacred  sun  symbol.  The  pariah 
who  brought  it  was  under  the  curse  medicine  of 
Tahn-te.  Before  their  eyes  he  sat  dumb,  and  the 
Castilians  crossed  themselves  with  dread  as  they 
looked  on  him.  He  was  the  visible  warning  of  a 
doom  awaiting  any  other  who  dared  speak ! 

Not  alone  could  he  lift  water  to  his  own  lips.  The 
trembling  of  his  hand  was  now  the  trembling  of  his 
entire  body.  By  order  of  Tahn-te  he  was  to  be  taken 
to  one  of  the  little  cliff  dwellings  at  the  foot  of  the 
mesa.  Each  seven  suns,  an  old  man  and  a  group  of 
boys  were  to  have  the  task  of  carrying  to  him  food 
and  water,  and  each  visit  the  boys  were  to  be  told  by 
the  Ancient  why  the  medicine  had  been  put  upon  the 
outcast.  Thus  all  youth  would  know  that  the  Great 
Mystery  sent  power  against  traitors. 

In  vain  Padre  Vicente  tried  to  scoff  at  the  reality 
of  it,  or  the  continuance  of  it.  The  men  pointed  to 
the  palsied  man,  and  prayers  were  remembered  by 
many  who  were  not  pious.  Indian  witchcraft  was 
not  to  their  liking ! 

"  Paracelsus  with  his  necromancy  has  done  nothing 
worse !  "  declared  Don  Diego.  "  This  barbarian 
priest  lacks  bowels  in  his  devilish  art!  Had  he  not 
sent  the  gift  of  gold,  the  aggravation  would  have 


246      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


been  less  pointed.  That  insult  from  the  heretic  is 
not  to  be  endured." 

"  Yet  the  saints  do  give  us  strength  for  the  en- 
durance, Senor,"  replied  the  secretary,  "  and  Don 
Ruy  paces  apart,  and  keeps  key  on  his  thoughts  since 
that  council.  Think  you  he  fears  magic  of  the  Po- 
Ahtun-ho?" 

"  A  good  thing  were  it  true !  "  decided  Don  Diego 
— "  overmuch  is  he  inclined  to  countenance  their  pa- 
gan practices,  and  find  likeness  in  their  mummeries  to 
the  mysteries  of  the  Greek  —  and  even  the  Egyptian 
of  ancient  days !  The  sorcerer  has  snared  him  with 
that  ungodly  learning  of  books.  But  while  we  see  it, 
and  know  it,  Chico  my  son,  it  is  as  well  that  the 
thought  enters  not  into  the  4  Relaciones.'  Don  Ruy 
in  the  desert  is  a  good  comrade,  but  his  Excellency  in 
Madrid  could  nip  any  book  in  the  bud  —  even  the 
most  stupendous." 

"  He  is  so  great  in  power?  " 

"  He  is  —  but  it  is  enough  to  know  that  he  is  the 
darling  of  princes,  and  has  not  yet  been  ignored  by 
their  sisters !  That  which  he  wants  in  Madrid  comes 
easily  to  his  hand, —  and  this  wild  adventuring  is  un- 
profitable madness." 

"  Not  unprofitable  shall  it  remain,"  decided  Padre 
Vicente,  who  had  walked  near  enough  to  hear  their 
converse,  and  whose  interest  was  ever  alert  to  further 
knowledge  of  their  patron. — "  Let  the  heathen  sor- 
cerer send  what  insolent  message  he  will,  it  does 
not  change  the  fact  the  gold  has  been  put  into  our 
hands.  It  is  clear  proof  that  the  story  of  the  Indian 
mine  was  a  story  of  truth." 

"  Strange  it  is  that  the  abhorred  Teo  the  Greek 
should  have  been  the  one  to  carry  word  of  it  out  to 
the  world  " —  mused  Don  Diego.    "  Write  down  in 


THE  TRUE  VISION  247 


the  c  Relaciones,'  Chico,  that  the  ways  of  the  saints 
are  often  wondrous  peculiar  in  the  selection  of  evil 
instruments  for  pious  works." 

"  Yes,  Senor,  and  shall  I  write  down  also  that  the 
piety  has  not,  up  to  this  date,  made  so  much  progress 
as  devout  minds  could  have  hoped?  " 

"  You  may  do  so,"  conceded  Don  Diego  — "  but 
fail  not  to  give  the  true  reason.  Had  these  poor  stub- 
born barbarians  not  sent  their  women  away,  the 
padre  would  have  won  many  souls  for  the  faith  ere 
this.  Women  are  the  instruments  through  which  re- 
ligion reaches  men.  Not  until  the  women  have  been 
frightened  back  to  their  homes  can  we  hope  for  a 
comforting  harvest  of  souls." 

"  There  is  one  soul  waiting  to  be  gathered  with 
the  harvest,"  said  the  lad,  pointing  to  the  outcast. 
"  If  Christian  prayers  could  lift  from  his  shaking 
hands  the  pagan  doom,  it  would  not  do  more  to  make 
converts  here  than  wordy  argument." 

"  The  governor  and  the  head  men  approve  of  his 
sentence  because  the  man  made  camp  here  without  the 
word  of  council,"  stated  Padre  Vicente.  "  It  is  not 
well  to  meddle  with  their  Pueblo  laws." 

Yahn,  who  listened,  saw  the  smile  on  Chico's 
face,  and  wondered  why  the  lad  should  be  humorous 
because  the  priest  did  not  venture  to  measure  saintly 
prayers  with  heathen  medicine ! 

Glad  enough  she  was  that  it  was  so,  and  eager  she 
was  that  some  one  should  tell  to  Ka-yemo  that  his 
new  friends  had  a  weaker  god  than  the  god  of  the 
Te-hua  people, —  even  the  medicine  of  Tahn-te  — 
the  medicine  of  one  man  —  made  them  respectful! 

But  her  own  lips  were  sealed  between  anger  and 
jealousy.  Like  a  sullen  figure  of  fate  she  had 
brooded  during  the  days  of  strange  changes.  Sullen 


248      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


also  she  listened  to  speech  of  sorcery,  and  speech  of 
war  if  war  came. 

To  go  to  battle  was  the  one  way  by  which  Ka- 
yemo  could  dominate  and  make  the  men  of  iron  see 
there  was  another  than  Tahn-te  in  Povi-whah.  This 
thing  she  thought  of  by  day,  and  dreamed  of  in  the 
night. 

She  heard  his  name  on  the  lips  of  the  old  women 
and  of  Sah-pah,  again  they  talked  of  the  day  when 
the  father  had  been  left  behind  by  the  warriors  to 
pull  weeds  in  the  corn ! 

Like  a  chained  tigress  she  walked  the  terraces  and 
heard  their  laughter,  but  no  word  did  she  say.  If 
once  their  laughing  words  had  been  said  to  her,  she 
felt  she  would  kill  Sah-pah ! 

And  Ka-yemo  gazed  at  her  with  burning  eyes  afar 
off  —  yet  looked  the  other  way  if  by  chance  they 
passed  each  other  in  the  court  of  the  village.  It  was 
true  he  started  over  the  mesa  to  Shufinne  where  the 
new  wife  waited  with  the  other  young  women  and 
the  girl  children,  but  midway  on  the  trail  the  thought 
of  Yahn  and  Juan  Gonzalvo  had  come  to  him  —  and 
he  had  turned  in  his  tracks,  and  the  new  wife  of  the 
many  robes,  and  wealth  of  shell  beads,  was  not  seen 
by  him. 

Phen-tza  the  governor  said  hard  words  to  him  that 
his  actions  made  laughter, —  and  that  he  went  about 
as  in  an  angry  dream,  and  that  the  warriors  asked 
who  was  to  lead  if  the  day  vision  of  Tahn-te  proved 
a  true  vision ! 

"  I  did  not  see  the  vision  of  Tahn-te,"  retorted 
Ka-yemo  — "  the  people  to  whom  he  made  it  clear  of 
sight,  say  it  was  across  the  river  to  the  sunrise  — 
why  then  does  Tahn-te  ask  for  scouts  running  to  the 
sunset  hills?    That  is  new  medicine.', 


THE  TRUE  VISION  249 


"  The  council  asked  that  thing  while  you  were  yet 
on  the  mesa,"  said  the  governor  patiently.  "  The 
people  who  saw  the  vision  of  Tahn-te  saw  only  the 
spirit  form  of  Navahu  warriors,"  and  the  governor 
puffed  smoke  from  his  pipe  to  the  four  ways  to 
propitiate  the  gods  for  the  mention  of  those  who  be- 
longed in  the  spirit  land.  "  But  before  the  vision 
was  carried  away  by  magic  of  the  wind,  Tahn-te  saw 
more  than  the  others,  he  saw  a  dream  mountain  be- 
hind them  —  and  cliffs  and  a  mountain  pass  that  is 
known  to  his  eyes.  Through  that  pass  they  were  com- 
ing, and  the  pass  is  beyond  the  sacred  mountain  to 
the  land  of  the  hunting  ground  of  the  sunset.  By 
that  trail  he  knows  they  come  —  or  they  will  come !  " 

"  You  think  the  vision  of  Tahn-te  is  clear,  and  his 
medicine  good !  "  said  Ka-yemo  — "  But  the  men  of 
iron  are  wise  also.    They  call  him  —  sorcerer." 

"  It  is  not  yet  the  time  to  say  it  aloud,"  warned 
the  governor.  "  This  is  a  time  of  strange  things, 
and  our  eyes  saw  that  which  came  to  the  outcast  who 
carried  the  sun  symbol  to  the  men  of  iron.  The 
medicine  of  the  white  men  is  strong,  and  they  could 
be  good  brothers  in  battle, —  but  not  yet  has  their 
man  of  sacred  medicine  shown  magic  like  that,"  and 
he  pointed  to  the  outcast  waiting  and  shaking  in  the 
sunshine  against  the  wall  of  the  village. 

Ka-yemo  knew  by  these  words  that  even  his  own 
clan  watched  him  closely  ^  Tahn-te  had  made  the 
jealous  hearts  afraid. 

Yahn  saw  him  go  alone  to  the  river's  edge,  and  sit 
long  alone;  his  handsome  head  was  bent  in  thought 
and  to  no  one  could  the  thought  be  told.  From  the 
terrace  Yahn  watched.  It  was  a  time  when  the  war 
chief  should  call  men  and  see  that  bows  were  strong, 
and  lances  ready.    It  was  not  a  time  to  walk  apart 


250      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


and  be  unseen  of  the  warriors.  One  man,  who 
fastened  a  scalp  to  his  lance  for  good  medicine,  talked 
with  Sah-pah,  and  the  woman  laughed  and  asked  who 
would  pull  weeds  in  the  corn  if  all  men  went  seeking 
the  Navahu! 

When  Yahn  Tysndeh  heard  that,  she  went  down 
from  the  terrace  into  her  own  dwelling,  and  made 
prayers  to  her  own  gods  of  her  Apache  people. 
With  a  blade  of  obsidian  she  made  scars  until  the 
blood  dripped  from  her  braceletted  arms.  To  the 
divinely  created  Woman  Without  Parents,  she 
chanted  a  song  of  prayer,  and  to  the  Twin  Gods  who 
slew  enemies,  she  let  her  blood  drop  by  drop  fall  on 
the  sacred  meal  of  the  medicine  bowl:  —  all  this 
that  one  man  be  given  power  —  and  all  this  that  a 
Te-hua  clan  be  not  ashamed  in  the  sight  of  gods ! 

Through  the  words  of  her  prayer  she  heard  the 
hurry  of  feet,  and  the  shrill  of  voices,  and  past 
her  dwelling  tramped  men  of  iron  clanging  the  metal 
of  their  arms,  and  the  voice  of  Chico  was  heard 
calling  her  name  at  the  door,  telling  her  the  scouts 
had  found  the  Navahu  camp :  —  to  come  quickly  to 
Don  Diego.  Tahn-te  had  read  aright  the  magic  of 
the  vision  of  the  sand  and  the  sun ! 

And  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  slipped  shell  ornaments  over 
the  wounds  on  her  arms,  and  went  out  to  make  words 
for  the  Christians. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THINGS  REVEALED  ON  THE  HEIGHTS 

ALL  the  Castilians  but  Padre  Vicente  and 
Don  Diego  went  with  the  warriors  to  the 
western  heights.  For  reasons  of  his  own, 
the  padre  preferred  the  pueblo  when  freed  of  the 
influence  of  Tahn-te,  and  Don  Diego  preferred  to 
bear  him  company, —  a  secretary  could  well  look  after 
the  records  of  warfare,  if  it  came  to  warfare,  though 
for  his  own  part  he  believed  not  any  of  the  heathen 
prophecy  of  the  coming  of  warriors,  and  wondered 
much  that  his  eminence,  the  padre,  showed  patience 
with  their  pagan  mummeries.  He  assured  the  padre 
that  it  would  be  a  wrong  against  Holy  Church  to 
grant  the  sacraments  to  the  pagan  Cacique  until  that 
doom  of  the  outcast  had  been  revoked;  —  To  take 
the  power  of  high  God  for  the  managing  of  pueblo 
matters  was  not  a  thing  to  grant  absolution  for! 
And  Padre  Vicente,  to  quiet  his  anxiety  on  that  score, 
agreed  that  when  the  pagan  Cacique  came  for  ab- 
solution, he  should  be  reminded  of  his  iniquity. 

And  while  they  settled  this  weighty  matter,  the 
young  Ruler  who  had  prophesied,  moved  contrary 
to  custom,  with  the  leaders  across  the  high  mesa,  and 
was  followed  by  the  Castilian  horsemen,  in  their 
shining  coats  of  mail,  and  on  a  mule  led  by  Gonzalvo 
rode  Yahn,  unafraid,  and  with  proud  looks. 

And  ever  her  eyes  rested  on  Ka-yemo  who  held  his 
place  of  chief,  and  chanted  a  war  song,  and  was 
so  handsome  a  barbarian  that  Don  Ruy  made  mention 

251 


252       ,THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


of  it,  and  told  the  secretary  that  he  was  worth  an  en- 
tire page  of  the  "  Relaciones,"  even  though  not  a  thing 
of  war  came  in  their  trail. 

The  great  white  cliff  of  a  thousand  homes  of  the 
past,  filled  the  Castilian  mind  with  wonder.  Gen- 
erations had  lived  and  died  since  the  ghost  city  of 
the  other  days  had  throbbed  with  life,  still  the  stucco 
of  the  walls  was  yet  ivory  white,  and  creamy  yellow, 
and  it  looked  from  the  pine  woods  like  a  far  reach- 
ing castle  of  dreams. 

It  was  nearing  the  sunset,  and  a  windless  heat 
brooded  over  the  heights  where  usually  the  pines 
made  whisperings,  clouds  of  flame  color  hung  above 
the  dark  summits  of  the  mountain,  and  the  reflected 
light  turned  the  ghostly  dwellings  to  a  place  of  blood- 
tinged  mystery.  More  than  one  of  the  adventurers 
crossed  themselves.  Don  Ruy  said  it  looked,  in  the 
lurid  glow,  like  a  place  of  enchantment. 

u  But  there  are  beautiful  enchantments,"  said 
Chico  — "  and  this  may  be  one  of  them  !  Think  you 
we  might  find  walls  pictured  by  Merlin  the  magian 
if  we  but  climb  the  steep?  Magic  that  is  beautiful 
should  not  be  hedged  around  by  a  mere  ocean  or 
two!" 

"  This  is  the  place  of  the  ghost  woman,"  stated 
Yahn, — "  and  Shufinne,  where  the  women  are  afraid, 
is  beyond." 

Within  sight  was  Shufinne,  and  there  the  Castil- 
ians  had  expected  to  camp.  But  among  the  older 
Indians  there  had  been  talk  >. — ■  and  who  can  gauge  the 
heathen  mind? 

"  Two  camps  will  we  make,"  they  decided. 
"  Here  is  most  water  for  the  animals  and  here  our 
white  brothers  can  wait;  at  Shufinne  will  the  Te-hua 
guard  be  awake  all  the  night,  and  give  warning  if 


REVEALED  ON  THE  HEIGHTS  253 


the  enemy  comes, —  other  guards  will  watch  the  trail 
of  the  canon.  Thus  we  cover  much  ground, —  no 
one  can  pass  to  the  villages  of  the  river;  —  and 
quickly  can  all  camps  help  the  one  where  the  enemy 
comes." 

"  Not  so  bad  is  the  generalship  in  spreading  their 
net,"  said  Don  Ruy. 

"  Nor  in  excluding  the  stranger  from  the  hiding 
place  of  their  pretty  maids,"  added  Chico  with  amuse- 
ment. "  Ysobel  —  ride  you  close  to  me.  This  is 
the  place  where  they  herd  their  women,  and  guard 
them, —  and  you  are  not  so  ill  favored  in  many  ways 
as  some  I  have  seen." 

Ysobel  whimpered  that  it  was  not  to  follow  war 
she  had  left  Mexico  and  her  own  people,  and  like 
Don  Diego  she  could  see  no  good  reason  to  search 
for  trouble  in  the  hills. 

"  Then  why  not  stay  behind  safe  walls  with  the 
padre?"  asked  Don  Ruy,  and  Ysobel  went  dumb 
and  looked  at  Chico  —  and  the  lad  shrugged  and 
smiled. 

"  Has  she  not  married  a  man?  "  he  queried,  "  and 
does  not  the  boy  Cupid  make  women  do  things  most 
wondrous  strange  in  every  land?  Jose  would  fare 
as  well  without  her  watchful  eye,  but  no  power  could 
make  her  think  it, —  so  come  she  would  on  a  lop- 
eared  mule  despite  all  my  fine  logic  I  " 

"  You  —  yourself  —  would  come !  "  retorted 
Ysobel,  "  so  what  — " 

But  Chico  prodded  the  mule  so  that  it  went  frisky 
and  sent  its  heels  in  the  air,  and  but  for  Don  Ruy 
the  beast  might  have  left  the  woman  on  the  ground. 

"  What  imp  possesses  you  to  do  mischief  to  the 
dame?"  he  demanded — "  and  why  laugh  that  she 
follows  her  husband?    When  you  have  more  years 


254s      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


you  may  perhaps  learn  what  devotion  may  mean !  " 

"  Never  do  I  intend  to  strive  for  more  knowledge 
of  it  than  I  possess  at  this  moment!"  declared 
Chico  — "  see  to  what  straits  it  has  led  that  poor 
girl,  who,  but  for  this  matter  of  a  man,  would  have 
been  good  and  safe  working  in  a  convent  garden. 
Small  profit  this  marriage  business  is !  " 

"  A  selfish  Jack-a-napes  might  you  be  called," 
remarked  Don  Ruy,  "  and  much  I  wonder  that  the 
woman  bears  patiently  your  quips.  Give  us  ten  more 
years,  and  we'll  see  you  mated  and  well  paid  for 
them!" 

"  Ten  years !  " —  and  the  lad  whistled, — "  let  me 
wait  ten  of  my  years  and  I  can  wait  the  rest  of  them !  " 

"Name  of  the  devil!"  laughed  Don  Ruy — "if 
you  grow  impatient  for  a  mate,  we'll  charge  yon 
citadel  and  capture  one  for  you !  " 

"  Oh,  my  patience  can  keep  step  with  your  own 
will,  Excellency,"  retorted  the  lad.  "  I've  no  fancy 
for  halting  the  expedition,  or  of  making  a  winning 
through  another  man's  arms." 

"  Your  conceit  of  yourself  is  quite  up  to  your 
inches,"  observed  his  patron.  "  When  you've  had  a 
few  floutings  you'll  be  glad  to  send  signals  for  help." 

"  One  flouting  would  be  enough  to  my  fancy  —  I'd 
straightway  borrow  myself  a  monk's  robe." 

"  We  all  think  that  with  the  first  love  affair  —  or 
even  the  second — "  volunteered  Don  Ruy — "but 
after  that,  philosophy  grows  apace,  and  we  are  willing 
to  eat,  drink  —  and  remain  mortal." 

Ysobel  giggled  most  unseemly,  and  Chico  stared 
disapproval  at  her. 

"  Why  laugh  since  you  know  not  anything  of  such 
philosophy,  Dame  Ysobel?"  he  asked.  "It  is  not 
given  many  to  gather  experience,  and  philosophies 


REVEALED  ON  THE  HEIGHTS  255 


such  as  come  easily  to  the  call  of  his  Excellency.'1 
The  woman  hung  her  head  at  the  reproof,  and  his 
Excellency  lifted  brows  and  smiled. 

"  You  have  betimes  a  fine  lordling's  air  with  you," 
he  observed.  "  Why  chide  a  woman  for  a  smile 
when  women  are  none  too  plentiful?  " 

But  they  had  reached  the  place  of  the  camp,  and 
the  secretary  swung  from  the  saddle  in  silence.  Don 
Ruy  watching  him,  decided  that  the  Castilian  grand- 
father must  have  been  of  rank,  and  the  Indian  grand- 
mother at  least  a  princess.  Even  in  a  servant  who 
was  a  friend  would  the  lad  brook  nothing  of  the 
familar. 

Tahn-te  stood  apart  from  the  Spanish  troop  while 
camp  was  being  made,  and  a  well  dug  deeper  in  a 
ravine  where  once  the  water  had  rippled  clear  above 
the  sand.  The  choice  of  camp  had  not  been  his. 
The  old  men  and  the  warriors  had  held  up  hands, 
and  the  men  of  iron  were  not  to  see  the  women  at 
Shufinne, —  so  it  had  been  voted. 

The  lurid  glow  of  the  sky  was  overcast  and  haste 
was  needed  ere  the  night  and  perhaps  the  storm, 
came.  Since  it  was  voted  that  Puye  be  the  shelter, 
Tahn-te  exacted  that  only  the  north  dwellings  be 
used  —  the  more  sacred  places  were  not  to  be  peered 
into  by  strange  eyes  I 

A  Te-hua  guard  was  stationed  at  the  ancient 
dwelling  of  the  Po-Ahtun.  Near  there  alien  feet 
must  not  pass.  Where  the  ruins  of  ancient  walls 
reached  from  edge  to  edge  ©f  the  mesa's  summit,  there 
Te-hua  guards  would  watch  through  the  night,  and 
signal  fires  on  Shufinne  mesa  would  carry  the  word 
quickly  if  help  was  needed. 

A  Navahu  captive  from  Kah-po  came  with  men  of 
Kah-po,  and  was  left  at  Puye.    Juan  Gonzalvo 


256      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


stationed  his  own  guards,  having  no  fancy  for  sleep 
with  only  painted  savages  between  his  troop  and 
danger.  Ka-yemo  for  no  stated  reason  lingered  near, 
and  watched  the  Castilians,  and  watched  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh;  —  so  sullen  and  strong  had  grown  his 
jealousy  that  here  in  the  hills  —  apart  from  the 
padre,  he  dared  think  what  could  be  made  happen  to 
the  little  cluster  of  white  men  if  the  Kah-po  men 
would  join  Povi-whah  for  battle, —  and  if  — 

Under  the  eyes  of  Padre  Vicente  no  such  thought 
would  have  dared  come  to  him, —  but  he  had  brief 
wild  desires  to  win  by  some  stroke,  a  power  such  as 
Tahn-te  held  without  question.  Let  the  Castilian 
whisper  "  sorcerer  "  ever  so  loudly,  yet  the  old  men 
of  Te-hua  would  give  no  heed  without  proofs  —  and 
who  could  make  proofs  against  Tahn-te? 

The  words  of  the  governor  had  cut  deep  —  and 
Yahn  who  was  of  the  Tain-tsain  clan,  would  rage  if 
the  clan  gained  not  credit  by  the  war  chief, —  and 
Gonzalvo  the  man  of  iron, —  would  then  take  her  to 
himself  —  and  —  He  walked  apart  in  rage.  From 
the  ancient  dwelling  of  the  Po-Ahtun  he  could 
hear  the  chanting  of  a  war  song.  Tahn-te  was 
invoking  the  spirits  of  battle  —  Tahn-te  it  was  who 
had  seen  the  vision  of  warriors  and  started  scouts  to 
the  hills ;  —  on  every  side  was  he  reminded  that 
Tahn-te  the  priest  —  was  looked  upon  as  Tahn-te 
the  warrior  heart! 

The  Castilians  would  go  back  to  their  own  land 
with  that  word  to  their  people,  and  to  their  king;  — 
and  he,  Ka-yemo, —  would  have  no  mention  unless 
it  should  be  of  the  weeds  pulled  in  the  corn ! 

His  heart  was  so  sick  and  so  angry  that  he  could 
almost  hear  the  laughter  if  he  returned  without 
honors :  —  but  one  man  should  not  laugh !  —  He  did 


Castilian  War  Dress  He  Stood 

Page  293 


REVEALED  ON  THE  HEIGHTS  257 


not  know  how  it  would  happen  that  he  could  have  the 
Capitan  Gonzalvo  killed  —  but  that  man  should  not 
laugh  with  Yahn  Tsyn-deh ! 

In  his  sick  rage  he  had  brooded  and  walked  far. 
Along  the  summit  of  the  mesa  among  the  ruins  had 
he  walked  to  the  east.  The  weird  dead  city  of  the 
Ancient  Days  was  made  more  weird  by  the  strange 
brooding  heat  of  the  dusk.  No  cool  air  of  the  twi- 
light followed  the  setting  sun  this  night.  Sounds 
carried  far.  No  fires  were  lit  in  the  camp  below  — 
yet  movements  of  the  animals  told  him  where  the 
Castilians  tethered  their  wonderful  comrades  of  the 
trail. 

At  any  other  time  he  would  not  have  walked  alone 
on  the  heights  where  mystery  touched  each  broken 
wall,  and  wrapped  the  mesa  as  in  a  strange  medicine 
blanket.  But  in  his  impotent  rage  he  felt  spirit 
forces  of  destruction  working  against  him,  and  the 
dread  of  them  dulled  his  senses  as  to  the  place  where 
he  wandered. 

And  then  his  heart  jumped  with  a  new  fear  as  the 
form  of  a  woman  arose  from  a  crevice  in  the  stone 
wall  —  did  the  ghost  of  the  ruin  wait  for  him  there? 

The  figure  halted  uncertainly  and  then  ran  toward 
him  with  outreaching  hand. 

It  was  Yahn  Tsyn-deh,  and  she  was  half  laughing 
and  half  sobbing,  and  the  barrier  of  anger  was 
brushed  aside  as  if  it  had  never  been. 

"  Ka-yemo !  —  Ka-yemo !  "  she  whispered  — "  You 
dare  be  highest  now;  —  and  Tahn-te  will  be  under 
your  feet,  Ka-yemo!  " 

She  clasped  her  arms  about  him  as  she  stumbled, 
breathless,  at  his  feet,  and  his  hands  clutched  her  in 
fierceness. 

"  Is  this  a  trick?  " —  he  asked.    "  Have  I  trapped 


258      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


you  with  a  lover,  and  you  run  to  me  with  a  new 
game?  " 

"  Oh  —  fool,  you !  "  she  breathed — "  There  was 
but  one  lover,  and  he  went  blind,  and  walked  away 
from  me  at  a  daybreak!  " 

She  would  have  said  more,  but  he  caught  her  up 
and  held  her  too  close  for  speech,  and  she  felt  in 
triumph  the  trembling  of  his  body. 

"The  man  Gonzalvo," — he  muttered — "I  was 
walking  to  find  the  way  I  could  kill  him  alone  because 
you  wear  his  gifts." 

"  Fool!  "  she  whispered  again,  "  Shall  I  then  go 
to  a  woman  at  Shufinne  and  kill  her  because  her  gifts 
are  with  you?  I  let  her  live  to  see  that  the  gifts  she 
brings  are  little  beside  my  own !  I  bring  you  victory 
over  Tahn-te  the  sorcerer  of  Povi-whah!  I  bring 
you  the  trail  to  his  witch  maid  of  the  hills.  With  her 
he  comes  to  make  prayers  in  the  night  time  !  For 
this  he  guards  the  dwellings  of  the  star  where  she  is 
hidden.  Tahn-te  the  sorcerer  shall  be  under  your 
feet !    Ka-yemo  —  I  bring  this  to  you !  " 

And  while  they  clung  to  each  other,  scarce  daring 
to  think  that  union  and  triumph  was  again'  their 
own,  Tahn-te  the  Ruler  of  magic  sat  within  the 
ancient  dwelling  where  the  symbols  of  the  Po-Ahtun 
are  marked  on  the  walls  even  in  this  day. 

In  a  shadowed  corner  a  tiny  fire  glimmered,  and 
by  its  light  he  studied  the  clear  crystal  of  the  sacred 
fire-stone.  With  prayer  he  studied  it  long,  and  the 
things  speaking  in  the  milky  depths  held  him  close, 
and  the  breath  stopped  in  his  body  many  times  while 
he  looked,  and  the  prayers  said  through  the  Flute  of 
the  Gods  were  prayers  to  the  Trues  to  which  he  sent 
all  his  spirit. 

Then  from  his  medicine  pouch  he  took  the  seeds 


REVEALED  ON  THE  HEIGHTS  259 


of  the  sacred  by-otle  into  which  the  dreams  of  the 
gods  have  ever  grown  as  the  blossom  grows. 

Darklings  were  these,  gathered  when  the  moon 
was  at  rest,  and  no  wandering  stars  swam  high  in  the 
night  sky.  The  dreams  in  these  shut  out  day  knowl- 
edge, and  the  knowledge  of  earth  life.  For  medicine 
dreams  they  shut  out  all  of  a  man  but  that  which  is 
Spirit,  and  the  body  becomes  as  a  dead  body  knowing 
not  anything  but  dreams  —  feeling  neither  heat  nor 
cold. 

Of  all  medicine  left  on  earth  by  the  gods  who  once 
walked  here,  not  any  medicine  is  so  strong  to  lift  the 
soul  to  the  Giver  of  Life  even  while  the  feet  walk 
here  over  trails  of  thorns,  or  the  whipping  thongs 
cut  bare  to  the  bone  the  dancing  flesh  of  penitents. 

When  Tahn-te  had  listened  to  Padre  Luis,  and 
had  read  of  the  grievous  pain  of  that  one  Roman 
crucifixion  of  the  founder  of  the  church  of  Padre 
Luis,  the  boy  had  not  been  impressed  as  the  good 
priest  had  hoped.  Even  then  he  had  heard  of  the 
medicine  drugs  of  different  tribes,  and  the  Medicine 
Spirit  granted  to  some,  and  as  a  man  he  knew  that  the 
man  to  whom  the  gods  give  medicine  gifts  can  make 
for  himself  joy  out  of  that  which  looks  like  pain. 
He  knew  well  that  the  earth  born  who  drew  to  them- 
selves God-power,  do  not  die,  and  the  man  on  the 
Roman  cross  could  not  die  if  his  medicine  Power  of 
the  Spirit  was  strong.  He  knew  that  he  had  only 
gone  away  as  all  the  god-men  and  god-women  have 
gone  away  at  times  from  earth  places. 

He  knew  that  strong  magic  of  the  spirit  could  al- 
ways do  this  for  a  man  if  his  heart  was  pure  and 
steady,  but  not  to  another  could  he  give  the  spirit 
power,  or  the  heart  of  knowledge. 

He  counted  over  the  seeds  of  the  By-otle  and  knew 


260      (THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


that  there  were  enough  to  make  even  a  strong  man 
dream  of  joy  while  under  torture. 

After  that  he  dared  look  more  closely  into  the 
shifting  lights  of  the  sacred  fire  stone,  and  the  Cas- 
tilians  in  the  camp  below,  and  the  guards  on  the 
level  above,  and  the  plotting  woman,  and  her  re- 
gained slave  and  master  heard  the  call  of  the  Flute, 
and  intonings  of  sacred  songs  from  the  century  old 
dwelling  of  the  Po-Ahtun. 

"  The  battle  is  here! 
The  battle  of  gods  is  here  I 
The  flowers  of  shields  have  bloom, 
The  death  flowers  grow! 
Among  that  bloom  shall  homes  be  made, 
Among  the  bloom  shall  we  build  fair  homes. 
Brothers: —  drink  deep  of  warrior  wine, 
[For  our  enemies  we  build  homes! 
lEat:  —  eat  while  there  is  bread. 
'Drink  —  drink  while  there  is  water. 
A  day  comes  when  the  air  darkens, 
When  a  cloud  shall  darken  the  air, 
When  a  mountain  shall  be  lifted  up, 
When  eyes  shall  be  closed  in  death, 
\Eat  —  eat  while  there  is  bread, 
\Drink  —  drink  of  warrior  wine!  "  * 

*Book  of  Chilan  Balam. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


THE  BATTLE  ON  THE  MESA 

THE  stars  had  marked  the  middle  of  the 
night,  and  the  Castillian  camp  slept,  save 
for  the  guards  who  paced  quietly  through 
the  pine  groves,  and  the  Te-hua  sentinels  on  the 
summit  above,  who  rested  in  silence  at  the  places 
where  foot-holds  carved  by  pre-historic  Lost  Others 
in  the  face  of  the  rock  wall,  afforded  a  trail  for  the 
enemy  if  the  enemy  could  find  it. 

Between  the  Castilians  in  the  pine  below,  and  the 
Te-hua  sentinels  on  the  rock  mesa  of  the  ruins  above, 
there  stretched  the  line  of  cave  dwellings  high  in  the 
rock  wall.  These  needed  no  guard  —  for  there  the 
Te-hua  warriors  slept,  and  Tahn-te  read  the  fate  of 
things  in  the  crystal,  and  made  prayers. 

But  to  the  east  where  he  had  forbidden  wandering 
feet,  a  man  and  woman  did  crouch  in  a  crevice,  and 
watch  while  the  shining  ones  overhead  travelled  to 
the  center  of  the  sky  and  then  towards  the  mountains 
in  the  trail  of  the  sun. 

For  Tahn-te  they  watched  —  and  the  watching 
was  so  long  that  the  man  slept  at  intervals  in  the 
arms  of  the  woman  —  but  the  woman  did  not  sleep ! 
Victory  was  too  near  —  and  triumph  beat  in  her 
blood,  and  like  a  panther  of  the  hills  waiting  for  prey 
did  she  listen  for  the  steps  of  the  man  who  had  known 
her  humiliation. 

But  when  the  steps  did  come,  they  came  not  from 
the  Po-Ahtun-ho,  nor  were  they  the  steps  of  a  man. 

261 


262      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


A  woman  crept  lightly  as  a  mountain  squirrel  from 
one  to  another  of  the  boulders  on  the  eastern  hill,  and 
at  last  climbed  to  the  dwellings  of  the  Ancient  Ones, 
and  reached  the  portal  of  the  sacred  place  of  the  star. 

This  was  the  place  where  the  wise  men  of  old 
Watched  the  coming  of  the  gods  as  they  gazed  upon 
earth  through  the  mask  of  the  glimmering  stars.  It 
was  not  a  place  for  women,  for  no  woman  had  been 
Reader  of  the  Stars  within  known  records  of  the  Te- 
hua  people.  Yet  it  surely  was  a  woman  who  crept 
upwards  in  the  night  to  the  place  where  women 
feared  to  go. 

Yahn  Tsyn-deh  slipped  like  a  snake  from  the 
crevice  and  watched  from  the  shadow  of  a  rock,  and 
was  richly  repaid.  It  was  the  Woman  of  the  Twi- 
light who  came  to  the  place  where  Tahn-te  had  for- 
bidden the  Castilians  and  warriors  to  walk,  and 
against  the  sky  Yahn  could  see  the  outline  of  a  water 
jar  borne  on  her  back  by  the  head-band  of  woven 
hemp.  She  halted  for  breath,  and  leaned,  a  frail, 
breathless  ghost  of  a  woman,  against  the  wall. 

Then  with  a  pebble  she  tapped  on  the  portal  of 
the  star,  four  times  she  made  the  signal  ere  another 
met  her  in  the  dusk,  and  took  from  her  the  burden, 
and  clung  to  her  hand  in  dread. 

In  the  dusk  of  the  starlight  they  sat  and  whispered, 
for  no  fire  dare  be  lit  within,  and  the  girl  of  the  blue- 
bird wing  ate  the  bread  and  drank  water,  and 
breathed  her  gratitude  while  she  strove  to  understand 
the  words  of  the  mother  of  Tahn-te. 

That  there  was  danger  she  knew  for  she  had  seen 
the  many  men.  Like  things  enchanted  had  she  seen 
them  —  the  men  who  looked  like  part  of  the  animals 
they  rode !  In  dread  and  fear  had  she  waited  for 
Tahn-te  while  she  watched  the  Ancient  Star  glowing 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MESA  263 


like  an  eye  of  wrath  in  the  western  heavens.  It  was 
looking  back  with  an  evil  look  because  no  gift  had 
been  made  to  it  on  the  altars  of  the  valley  people. 
Tahn-te  had  told  her  that  so  long  as  it  shone  must  she 
remain  hidden.  She  did  not  need  to  ask  why. 
When  with  the  Navahu  savages  she  had  been  taunted 
at  times  because  the  altars  of  her  people  knew  well 
the  blood  of  human  sacrifice  which  they  offered  with 
elaborate  ceremony  to  propitiate  the  gods  of  the  stars 
in  the  sky. 

"  Tahn-te  ?  "  she  whispered  to  the  mother,  but  the 
mother  shook  her  head.  Apart  from  all  woman-kind 
must  a  priest  live  when  times  of  stress  come. 
Tahn-te  was  fasting  and  making  prayers.  A  girl 
hidden  in  the  caves  must  not  go  hungry,  but  the 
thought  of  her  must  not  mingle  with  thoughts  of 
penance  for  the  tribe.  All  heads  of  the  spiritual 
orders  do  penance  and  make  prayers  for  clear  vision 
when  the  evil  days  come. 

"  And  they  are  here?  "  questioned  the  girl. 

"  They  are  here.  The  land  was  smiling,  the  corn 
was  good,  all  was  good.  Then  the  Great  Star  came 
—  and  the  men  of  iron  came  —  the  corn  was  laid  low 
by  the  God  of  the  Winds.  The  Most  Mysterious  has 
sent  signs  to  his  people,  and  the  signs  are  evil  and 
come  quickly.  My  son,  the  Po-Ahtun-ho,  has  seen 
these  signs,  and  the  gods  have  talked  with  him." 

The  maid  knew  that  a  mere  stray  creature  could 
not  find  room  in  the  thoughts  of  so  great  a  man  — 
at  so  great  a  time;  and  she  sat  silent,  but  she  reached 
out  and  held  the  hand  of  his  mother.  Since  he  could 
not  speak  with  her  he  had  sent  to  her  the  woman 
most  high  and  most  dear.  He  could  not  come,  but 
he  had  not  forgotten ! 

"  He  will  come  again?  "  she  murmured,  and  some 


264      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


memory  in  the  heart  of  the  Twilight  Woman  made 
her  speech  very  gentle. 

u  He  will  come  again  when  the  battle  is  over,  and 
the  days  of  the  purification  are  over.  It  is  the  work 
of  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  to  see  that  the  stranger  is  ever 
fed  and  covered  with  a  shelter.  So  has  he  brought 
you  here,  and  so  has  he  brought  the  lion  skin  robe  to 
you  here.  When  the  young  moon  has  grown  to  the 
great  circle,  and  the  strangers  have  gone  again  to  the 
camp  by  the  river,  then  will  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  come  to 
you  here  in  this  place.  He  will  come  as  the  circle 
moon  rises  over  Na-im-be  hills.  Many  prayers  will 
be  made  ere  that  night  time,  and  he  will  come  with 
wisdom  to  say  the  thing  to  be  done.  Until  then  the 
strangers  must  not  see  you,  and  the  young  foolish 
men  of  our  tribe  must  not  see  you." 

Not  much  of  this  was  understood  by  the  bewildered 
maid  who  must  be  kept  hidden  in  secret  even  in  the 
land  of  her  own  people. 

But  Yahn  Tsyn-deh,  crouching  in  the  sand  outside 
the  portal,  heard  and  understood,  and  her  heart  was 
glad  with  happiness,  for  a  vengeance  would  fall 
double  strong  on  Tahn-te  if  it  touched  also  the  medi- 
cine god  woman,  his  mother ! 

From  the  broken,  whispered  sentences  —  half  Nav- 
ahu  —  half  Te-hua  —  did  Yahn  know  that  the 
hidden  woman  was  indeed  the  Navahu  witch  maid  by 
whom  evil  spirits  had  been  led  from  the  west  into 
the  great  valley. 

It  had  been  a  wonder  night  in  the  life  of  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh.  The  love  of  her  wild  heart  had  been 
given  back  to  her  —  and  vengeance  against  his  rival 
had  been  put  within  reach  of  her  hands!  The 
heights  of  Puye  were  enchanted  —  and  the  Ancient 
Star  had  shone  on  her  with  kindness.    It  was  a  good 


THE  BATTLE  OF.  THE  MESA  265 


time  in  her  life  and  she  must  work  in  quickness  ere 
the  change  came,  for  the  watchful  gods  of  the  sky 
do  not  stand  still  when  the  signs  are  good  signs. 

And  she  crept  back  to  the  arms  of  her  lover,  and 
they  watched  together  the  medicine  shadow  woman 
creep  downward  until  the  dark  hid  her. 

Yahn  counseled  that  at  once  they  go  to  the  gover- 
nor and  tell  that  which  they  heard,  but  Ka-yema  said 
"  no,"  for  if  the  Navahu  enemy  did  come,  the  power 
of  Tahn-te  was  needed  by  the  Te-hua  warriors  —  it 
was  not  the  time  to  kill  the  witch  woman  or  kill  the 
prayer  thoughts. 

"  You  are  strong  to  fight  without  Tahn-te,"  whis- 
pered the  girl  who  made  herself  as  a  vine  in  her  cling- 
ing clasp  of  him. 

"  But  not  to  fight  against  Tahn-te  and  his  secret 
powers  of  the  sky,"  answered  Ka-yemo.  "  The  old 
men  know  he  is  strong  in  visions.  When  the  time 
comes  that  he  fall  low  in  their  sight,  there  will  be 
many  days  that  their  hearts  will  be  sick.  We  must 
not  make  these  days  come  when  we  have  enemies  to 
fight." 

"  Do  you  fear?"  demanded  the  temptress  petu- 
lantly. It  irked  her  that  his  first  thought  was  of 
caution  —  while  hers  was  of  annihilation  for  the  man 
who  loomed  so  large  that  no  other  man  could  be  seen 
in  the  land. 

"  If  you  think  I  fear  would  you  find  me  here  in  this 
witch  place  with  you?"  he  asked.  "It  has  been 
forbidden  that  any  one  comes  here  —  yet  have  I 
come !  " 

Plainly  he  felt  brave  that  he  had  defied  the  Po- 
Ahtun-ho  in  so  much  as  he  had  walked  to  the  for- 
bidden sacred  places,  and  Yahn  felt  a  storm  of  rage 
sweep  over  her  at  the  knowledge.    But  it  had  been 


266      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


a  storm  of  rage  like  that  by  which  he  had  once  been 
driven  away  from  her!  And  she  smothered  all  the 
words  she  would  have  spoken,  and  clung  to  him,  and 
whispered  of  his  greatness, —  and  the  pride  he  could 
bring  to  the  clan  when  Tahn-te,  the  lover  of  witches, 
no  longer  made  laws  in  the  land. 

In  her  own  heart  she  was  making  prayers  that  the 
alarm  of  the  Navahu  warriors  prove  a  false  thing, 
and  the  vision  of  Tahn-te  be  laughed  at  by  the  clans. 
To  hear  him  laughed  at  would  help  much ! 

But  that  was  not  to  be,  for  ere  the  dawn  broke, 
came  shouts  from  Shufinne  —  and  signal  fires,  and 
the  Te-hua  men  of  Puye  ran  swiftly  to  guide  their 
Castilian  brothers  in  arms,  and  the  savages  who  had 
hoped  to  steal  women  in  the  darkness,  found  that 
thunder  and  lightning  and  death  fought  for  the  Te- 
hua  people  —  and  the  men  of  iron  rode  them  down 
with  the  charmed  animals  and  strange  battle  cries. 

When  the  daylight  came  there  were  dead  Navahu 
on  the  field  south  of  Shufinne  —  the  flower  of  the 
shields  had  bloom !  Two  dead  Te-hua  men  were  also 
there,  and  a  wounded  Navahu  had  been  taken  captive 
by  Juan  Gonzalvo.  Ka-yemo  carried  two  fresh 
scalps,  and  Don  Ruy  lay  huddled  in  a  little  arroyo, 
where  a  lance  thrust  had  struck  him  reeling  from  the 
saddle,  and  Tahn-te  had  leaped  forward  to  grapple 
with  the  Navahu  who,  hidden  on  the  edge  of  the 
steep  bank,  waited  the  coming  of  the  horseman  and 
lunged  at  him  as  head  and  shoulders  came  above  the 
level. 

Where  the  breastplate  ends  at  the  throat  he  struck, 
and  the  blade  of  volcanic  glass  cut  through  the  flesh. 
At  the  savage  yell  of  triumph  the  horse  swerved  — 
stumbled,  and  with  a  clatter  of  metals  rolled  down 
the  embankment. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MESA  267 


As  the  Navahu  rushed  downward  with  lifted  axe 
and  eager  scalping  knife,  an  arrow  from  the  bow  of 
Tahn-te  pierced  the  temple  of  the  savage,  and  with 
a  grunt  he  whirled  and  fell  dead  beside  the  Castil- 
ian. 

The  horse  had  quickly  regained  his  feet,  but  the 
rider  lay  still,  the  blood  pulsing  from  his  throat  and 
staining  the  yellow  sand.  With  dextrous  fingers 
Tahn-te  removed  the  helmet  and  breastplate  that  the 
position  of  the  body  might  be  eased.  With  sinew  of 
deer  from  his  pouch,  and  a  bone  awl  of  needle-like 
sharpness,  he  drew  together  the  edges  of  the  wound, 
then  turning  to  where  the  Navahu  lay  prone  on  his 
face  in  the  sand,  he  deftly  cut  a  strip  of  the  brown 
skin  a  finger's  width  across,  and  in  length  from 
shoulder  to  girdle;  this  he  took  from  the  yet  warm 
body  as  he  would  take  the  bark  from  a  willow  tree, 
and  bound  it  about  the  throat  with  the  flesh  side  to 
the  wound. 

"  Take  my  horse  and  follow,"  whispered  Don 
Ruy,  who  had  recovered  breath  and  speech, — "  I  am 
not  yet  so  dead  that  I  need  the  grave  digger  —  you 
can  ride  —  take  my  horse  and  follow." 

Tahn-te  had  leaped  to  the  saddle,  when  a  cry  at 
the  edge  of  the  arroyo  caused  him  to  halt,  it  was  so 
pitiful  a  cry,  and  tumbling  down  through  the  sand 
and  gravel  came  Master  Chico  with  staring  eyes  of 
fear,  and  lips  that  were  pale  and  quivering.  The 
flayed  back  of  the  savage  had  he  caught  sight  of,  and 
the  white  face  of  Don  Ruy  who  looked  dead  enough 
for  masses  despite  his  own  assertion  to  the  contrary, 
and  the  lad  flung  himself  on  his  excellency  with  a 
wail  that  was  far  from  that  of  a  warrior,  and  then 
slipped  silently  into  unconsciousness. 

With  the  thought  that  a  death  wound  had  struck 


268      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  lad  who  had  come  to  die  with  his  master,  Tahn-te 
turned  the  face  back  until  the  head  rested  on  the  arm 
of  the  Castilian,  lightly  he  ran  his  hands  over  the 
body,  and  then  halted,  his  eyes  on  the  face  of  Don 
Ruy,  who  gazed  strangely  at  the  white  face  on  his 
arm.  The  cap  was  gone,  the  eyes  were  closed,  and 
the  open  lips  showed  the  white  teeth.  In  every  way 
the  face  was  more  childish  than  it  had  ever  appeared 
to  him  —  childish  and  something  more  —  some- 
thing — 

Then  Tahn-te,  who  held  the  wrist  of  Chico,  laid 
it  gently  on  the  hand  of  Don  Ruy. 

"  Only  into  the  twilight  land  has  she  gone,  Senor," 
he  said  softly — "even  now  the  heart  beats  on  the 
trail  to  come  back  —  to  you !  " 

Don  Ruy  stared  incredulously  into  the  eyes  of  the 
Indian,  and  a  flush  crept  over  his  own  pale  face  as 
he  remembered  many  things. 

"  Dona  Bradamante !  "  he  murmured,  and  nodded 
to  Tahn-te,  who  leaped  on  the  horse  and  rode  where 
the  yells  of  the  victors  sounded  in  the  pinons  towards 
the  hills.  Beyond  all  the  other  horsemen  he  rode, 
and  saw  far  above  in  the  scrubby  growth,  the  enemy 
seeking  footholds  where  the  four-footed  animals 
could  not  follow.  Then,  when  Ka-yemo  had  called 
the  names  of  the  trailers  who  were  to  follow  the 
enemy  beyond  the  summit,  Tahn-te  the  Po-Athun-ho 
turned  back  and  chanted  the  prayer  of  a  prophet  to 
whom  the  god  had  sent  true  dreams. 

The  Castilians  watched  him  as  he  came ;  so  proudly 
did  he  carry  himself  that  the  men  swore  an  army  of 
such  horsemen  would  win  half  the  battle  by  merely 
showing  themselves,  and  the  old  men  of  Tehua  knew 
as  they  looked  on  him,  and  as  they  counted  the  slain 
and  wounded,  that  Tahn-te  had  indeed  been  given  the 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MESA  269 


gift  of  the  god-sight  to  save  the  women  of  the  valley. 

Juan  Gonzalvo  swore  ugly  oaths  at  sight  of  the 
horse  of  Don  Ruy.  Since  the  pagan  had  taken  it  as 
his  own,  it  was  plain  to  be  seen  that  some  woeful  thing 
had  chanced  to  his  excellency. 

But  to  their  many  questions  Tahn-te  led  them  to 
the  arroyo  where  Don  Ruy  was  indeed  wounded,  and 
where  a  pale  secretary  was  carrying  water  in  his  hat 
to  bathe  his  excellency's  head,  and  his  excellency  let 
it  be  done,  and  exchanged  a  long  look  of  silence  with 
Tahn-te,  who  understood. 

The  ankle  of  Don  Ruy  had  a  twist  making  it  of 
no  use  to  stand  upon.  The  Po-Ahtun-ho  made  a 
gesture  to  Chico  to  hold  the  horse  while  he,  with  a 
soldier  to  help,  put  it  straight  with  a  dextrous  wrench, 
and  the  secretary  several  paces  away,  turned  white  at 
the  pain  of  it. 

Then  was  his  excellency  helped  again  to  his  saddle, 
and  the  men  from  Mexico  marvelled  at  the  surgery 
of  the  pagan  priest  who  killed  and  flayed  one  man  to 
mend  another  with. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP 

WHEN  the  runners  carried  the  word  to  the 
river  that  the  vision  of  Tahn-te  had  been 
a  true  vision,  the  padre  and  Don  Diego 
stared  at  each  other  incredulous.  It  was  a  thing 
not  to  be  believed  b}  a  Christian.  Yet  the  runners 
said  that  many  Navahu  scalps  and  two  dead  Te- 
hua  men  witnessed  the  truth  of  it,  and  the  men 
of  iron  had  proven  indeed  brothers  in  the  time  of 
battle.  The  governor  made  thanks  to  Don  Ruy,  who 
was  wounded,  and  his  Excellency  had  sent  the  sec- 
retary back  to  camp  with  Ysobel  since  there  was  not 
anything  new  to  record.  The  Te-hua  men  would 
dance  the  scalp  dance  when  they  came  to  the  village, 
and  two  clans  mourned  for  men  left  dead  on  the  mesa 
meadows. 

The  padre  regretted  that  he  had  not  gone  with  the 
troop.  Since  they  had  won  honor  and  thanks,  it  was 
the  good  time  to  work  for  the  one  favor  of  the  gold 
in  return. 

And  Don  Diego  regretted  the  Te-hua  men  who 
had  died  without  absolution. 

The  secretary  stated  that  the  clans  of  the  dead  men 
were  clamoring  for  the  Navahu  captive  taken  by 
Gonzalvo,  and  there  was  much  talk  about  it.  Also 
that  the  Navahu  said  it  was  one  maid  they  came 
searching  for  —  a  Navahu  maid  who  wore  bluebird 
wings  —  they  had  not  thought  to  harm  Te-hua 

270 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP  Til 


women !  Of  course  the  Te-hua  men  thought  that  was 
a  lie,  for  the  Navahu  always  wanted  more  women. 

But  the  old  men  of  the  village  to  whom  it  was  told 
looked  at  each  other  with  meaning. 

It  was  a  strange  thing  that  the  men  of  Te-gat-ha 
to  the  north,  and  the  men  of  Navahu  from  the  west, 
took  the  trail  to  search  for  that  one  maid  of  mys- 
tery. The  ground  over  which  she  passed  had  reached 
far,  and  the  evil  wrought  by  her  had  been  great. 
The  wise  men  of  Te-gat-ha  knew  that  the  tornado  fol- 
lowed her  trail,  and  the  Navahu  men  who  searched 
for  her,  had  found  death  and  defeat.  Prayers  must 
be  made  against  the  evil  of  her  if  her  feet  should 
cross  the  land  of  the  Te-hua  people. 

And  all  through  the  long  beautiful  twilight  the 
tombe  sounded  from  the  terraces,  and  the  mourners 
for  the  dead  on  the  high  mesas  knew  that  prayers 
were  being  made  against  new  evil  —  and  that  the 
medicine  men  would  in  an  early  day  demand  penance 
and  sacrifice  of  many  if  the  cloud  of  dread  was  not 
lifted  from  their  hearts. 

Four  days  of  purification  must  be  observed  by  the 
warriors  ere  entering  again  their  home  village  after 
a  battle  to  the  death.  And  Yahn  could  not  by  any 
means  approach  Ka-yemo  during  that  time,  which 
did  not  prevent  her  speech  with  other  men.  To 
Juan  Gonzalvo  she  talked,  and  Gonzalvo  chafed 
under  the  restrictions  of  Don  Ruy.  Steadily  in  his 
mind  had  grown  that  thought  of  the  parentage  of 
Tahn-te.  He  was  unwilling  to  think  that  the  native 
mind  could  have  the  keenness  and  the  logic  of  this 
barbarian  whose  eyes  were  the  the  color  of  the  darkest 
blue  violets,  and  whose  diabolic  power  made  even  the 
Castilians  awe-struck,  and  sent  them  to  prayers  more 
swiftly  than  did  the  sermons  of  the  padre.    If  he 


<m       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


only  dared  hint  it  to  the  padre  —  if  by  some  god- 
given  power  he,  the  insolent  Cacique,  could  be  de- 
livered into  their  hands  —  if  as  the  son  of  Teo  the 
Greek,  he  could  come  within  the  law  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion for  his  devilish  heresies  —  the  all  too  lenient 
Inquisition  demanded  white  blood  in  its  victims  — ■ 
what  a  triumph  it  would  be  for  the  Faith  to  add  the 
sorcerer  to  the  list !  For  such  a  triumph  would  Gon- 
zalvo  have  been  willing  to  tread  with  bared  feet  all 
the  sands  of  the  trail  to  Mexico. 

With  such  pious  intent  did  he  question  much  of 
Yahn,  who  knew  little  —  and  was  indeed  afraid  when 
the  medicine  god  woman  was  asked  of.  She  had  seen 
that  which  had  come  to  the  outcast  of  Na-im-be  who 
would  have  told  tribal  things,  and  she  had  no  wish 
to  grow  dumb,  or  blind,  or  a  trembling  wreck  in  the 
time  of  one  sun  across  the  sky. 

But  she  did  go  with  him  to  the  place  of  the  well 
in  the  sand  at  Shufinne  at  the  time  when  the  Twi- 
light Woman  went  for  water.  He  waited  there  and 
drew  for  her  the  water,  and  watched  closely  her  face 
as  he  spoke  a  Castilian  word  of  greeting.  If  he  had 
hope  that  she  had  ever  before  heard  such  words  his 
hopes  were  fruitless.  She  was  so  indifferent  to  his 
presence  that  not  even  once  did  she  lift  her  eyes 
from  the  water  jar  or  look  in  his  face,  and  the  fragile 
figure  turned  from  him  and  walked  away  as  if  Cas- 
tilian warriors  were  seen  daily  on  the  path  to  that 
well. 

Yahn  knew  that  all  the  other  women  wished  greatly 
to  be  let  go  down  to  the  village  that  they  might  see 
and  be  spoken  to  by  the  great  strangers,  and  she  hid 
in  the  brush  to  watch  the  medicine  god  woman  and 
even  won  courage  to  ask  of  her  who  had  filled  the 
water  jar  so  quickly. 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP  273 


"  Was  it  not  then  the  stranger  who  is  your  lover, 
Yahn  Tsyn-deh?"  asked  the  other,  not  as  one  who 
cares,  but  as  one  who  states  a  fact  — u  the  man  whom 
you  give  love  to  in  these  new  days." 

"Who  says  I  give  love?"  demanded  Yahn. 
"  Sah-pah  the  liar,  or  Koh-pe,  who  knows  not  any- 
thing!" 

"  You  walk  together  alone  as  lovers  walk.  The 
other  women  do  not  think  they  lie." 

"  They  are  fools  —  the  other  women !  "  stated 
Yahn  — "  also  they  are  liars.  They  are  glad  if  a 
man  of  the  beard  looks  the  way  they  are, —  they 
would  make  a  trail  to  follow  if  the  men  of  iron 
whistled  them, —  they  would  be  proud  to  make  their 
own  men  ashamed  —  they  I  " 

For  the  first  time  the  older  woman  looked  in  the 
face  of  the  girl  with  intentness,  as  though  suddenly 
aroused  to  interest  in  the  human  drama  about  her,  and 
the  actors  in  it. 

"  Then  you  would  not  follow,  Yahn  Tsyn-deh?  " 
she  asked.  "  The  others  say  you  laugh  at  the  men 
of  the  tribe  and  give  love  to  the  strangers  —  they 
say  you  pass  Ka-yemo  on  the  trail  and  your  eyes  never 
see  him  any  more  because  of  the  men  of  iron  who  give 
you  gifts!  " 

"  A  jealous  woman  says  that !  "  stormed  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh, —  "  a  woman  who  maybe  lies  to  him  when 
he  will  listen !  You  see  this :  " —  and  she  picked  up  a 
black  water  worn  pebble  with  a  vein  of  white  through 
the  heart  of  it — "Sometime  when  the  Earth 
Mother  was  beginning  with  the  work,  these  two  were 
maybe  not  together  like  this.  They  were  apart  — 
maybe  it  was  before  the  ice  went  from  around  our 
world  and  the  mountains  sent  fire  to  split  the  rocks. 
Look  you  now  —  you  are  wise,  but  maybe  you  do 


274      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


not  know  how  this  Is,  for  you  go  into  shadow  lands, 
and  men  and  women,  and  the  stones  over  which  your 
feet  walk,  are  all  the  same  to  you  —  also  the  love  of 
a  man  and  a  woman  are  not  anything  to  your 
thoughts  I" 

The  other  looked  at  her,  and  beyond  her,  and  said 
nothing.  The  words  of  Yahn  were  words  of  angry 
insistence  on  the  thought  she  had  never  yet  been  able 
to  express  —  and  to  say  it  to  even  the  god  medicine 
woman  who  sheltered  a  witch,  was  to  speak  it  aloud, 
and  have  it  forgotten ! 

"  You  are  wise  in  medicine  craft  but  do  you  know 
how  this  grew?" — she  demanded — "I  know  —  I 
feel  that  /  know!  —  the  mountain  fire  or  the  sky  fire 
broke  it  that  the  white  stone  of  fire  could  be  shot  like 
an  arrow  into  the  heart  of  it.  To  keep  some  count 
it  was  made  like  that  by  the  Most  Mysterious;  — 
and  in  the  hand  of  the  Mystery  it  was  held  —  and  the 
hand  was  closed  over  it  while  the  mountains  came 
down  to  the  rivers,  and  the  rivers  made  trails  through 
rock  walls.  When  the  hand  was  opened  and  the  sun 
looked  on  it,  it  was  grown  into  one ;  —  can  you  with 
all  high  medicine  put  them  apart  ?  —  can  you  break 
the  black  and  leave  the  white  not  broke?  Can  you 
make  two  colors  of  the  powder  you  would  grind  from 
it  between  grinding  stones?  —  Yet  the  two  colors  are 
there !  Like  the  two  colors  are  Ka-yemo  and  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh.  One  they  were  made  by  some  magic  of 
the  Great  Mystery,  and  no  woman  and  no  man,  and 
no  lies  of  women,  can  break  them  apart !  When  you 
hear  them  lie  another  time,  you  can  look  at  this  stone, 
and  know  that  I  said  it!  " 

She  had  worked  herself  into  such  a  passion  that  the 
long  smothered  rage  against  the  women  who  spoke 
her  name  lightly  in  the  village  spent  itself  on  the  one 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP  275 


woman  of  all  who  lived  most  apart  from  such  speech. 
But  aloud  had  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  said  once  for  all  that 
her  life  was  as  the  life  of  Ka-yemo,  and  that  no  earth 
creature  could  make  that  different,  and  for  the  saying 
of  it  aloud  she  was  a  happier  woman. 

And  Gonzalvo  who  listened  to  her  defiance,  fancied 
that  the  silent  woman  of  mystery  had  given  her  chid- 
ing, and  that  Yahn  was  doing  wordy  battle  for  the 
new  Castilian  friends. 

All  the  more  could  he  think  so  when  Yahn  joined 
him  with  her  great  eyes  shining  like  stars,  and  braided 
in  her  hair  some  flowers  he  had  plucked  for  her  —  and 
walked  back  to  the  camp  with  him  openly  before  all 
men ! 

And  she  said  to  him; — "I  like  only  men  who 
fight, —  men  who  are  not  afraid.  Tell  your  priest 
who  does  not  like  me  that  now  is  the  time  to  speak 
again  to  the  council  of  the  sun  symbol  and  of  brothers. 
The  old  men  have  seen  that  your  fighting  was  good, 
and  that  it  saved  them  their  women.  This  will  be 
the  time  to  speak." 

"  But  their  proud  Cacique  — >" 

"  It  is  a  good  time  to  speak  — "  she  insisted  — 
"  else  will  Tahn-te  grow  so  tall  with  prophecies  that 
his  shadow  will  cover  the  land,  and  the  men  in  the 
land, —  tell  your  priest  that  the  shadow  has  grown  too 
tall  now  for  one  man.  Other  men  have  fought  well 
and  taken  scalps  —  yet  only  one  name  is  heard  in  your 
camp  —  the  name  of  Tahn-te  who  sees  visions  in  the 
hills!" 

He  wondered  at  her  mocking  tone  of  the  visions 
in  the  hills,  for  no  other  Indian  mocked  at  the 
visions  of  the  sorcerer. 

Don  Ruy  was  well  agreed  to  get  back  to  the  fair 
camp  by  the  river,  and  so  pleased  with  them  were 


276       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


their  new  comrades  in  arms,  that  he  was  amused  to 
see  more  than  one  dame  of  the  village  trudging  home- 
wards across  the  mesa :  —  they  forgot  to  doubt  the 
new  allies  who  had  helped  send  the  Navahu  running 
to  the  hills.  When  he  reached  Povi-whah  he  rallied 
Chico  that  he  kept  close  to  the  camp  and  found  so 
many  remembered  records  to  put  safely  down  the 
"  Relaciones,"  when  there  were  more  than  a  few  pairs 
of  strange  dark  eyes  peeping  from  the  terraces. 

But  Chico  had  quite  lost  the  swagger  of  the  ad- 
venturous youth  since  he  tumbled  down  the  arroyo 
bank  almost  on  top  of  the  flayed  savage.  The  faint- 
ing fit  need  not  have  caused  him  so  much  of  shyness, 
since  his  Excellency  had  also  apparently  indulged  in 
the  same  weakness;  —  for  Chico  on  awaking  had 
carried  two  hats  full  of  water  and  drenched  his  high- 
ness completely  ere  he  had  opened  his  eyes  and  again 
looked  on  the  world.  However,  without  doubt  that 
fainting  fit  of  Master  Chico's  had  taken  away  a  fine 
lot  of  self  confidence,  for  ink-horn  and  paper  gave 
all  the  excitement  he  craved.  His  audacity  was  gone, 
and  so  meek  and  lowly  was  his  spirit,  that  Don  Diego 
had  much  pleasure  in  the  thought  that  the  vocation 
of  the  lad  was  plainly  the  church,  and  that  sight  of 
the  dead,  unconfessed  barbarians,  had  awakened  his 
conscience  as  to  human  duties  for  the  Faith. 

This  interesting  fact  he  made  mention  of  to  Don 
Ruy,  who  bade  him  god  speed  in  making  missionaries 
out  of  unexpected  material, —  and  got  more  amuse- 
ment out  of  the  idea  than  one  would  expect,  and 
Don  Diego  hinted  that  it  was  unseemly  to  jest  at 
serious  matters  of  the  saving  of  souls  when  his  own 
had  stood  so  good  a  chance  at  escape  through  the 
hole  in  his  neck. 

.    "  It  may  be  that  I  found  a  soul  through  that  same 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP  277 


wound,"  said  Don  Ruy,  "  at  least  I  gained  enough 
to  make  amends  for  the  scar  to  be  left  by  the  wicked 
lance." 

"  It  is  true  that  the  knowledge  gained  of  their 
savage  surgery  is  a  thing  of  import  for  the  "  Rela- 
ciones,"  agreed  Don  Diego, — "  but  only  the  infidel 
Cacique  made  practice  of  it,  and  his  acts  are  scarcely 
the  kind  to  bring  a  blessing  on  any  work  —  I  have 
been  put  to  it  to  decide  how  little  space  to  give  his 
name  in  these  pages.  It  is  not  a  seemly  thing  that 
the  most  wicked  should  be  the  most  exalted  in  the 
chronicles  of  our  travels." 

"  Whether  exalted  or  not  he  must  be  again  con- 
sidered in  this  quest  of  the  gold,"  stated  Padre 
Vicente,  "  Gonzalvo  brings  me  word  that  more  than 
one  of  the  tribe  would  have  joy  in  his  downfall,  and 
that  it  is  the  good  time  to  talk  with  the  head  men 
openly  on  this  question.  Our  men  have  helped  fight 
their  battles :  —  thus  matters  have  changed  for  us. 
Many  of  the  women  are  allowed  to  come  home  — 
they  perceive  we  are  as  brothers  and  are  not  afraid." 

"  They  also  perceive  that  we  have  a  Navahu  war 
captive  whom  they  desire  exceedingly  for  use  on  the 
altar  of  the  Mesa  of  the  Hearts," —  observed  Don 
Ruy.  They  are  much  disturbed  for  lack  of  a  sacri- 
fice these  days.  They  say  the  Ancient  Star  will  send 
earth  troubles  until  such  sacrifice  is  made,  some  of  the 
clans  must  donate  a  member  unless  the  gods  send  a 
substitute  —  their  preference  is  for  a  young  and 
comely  youth  or  maiden.  They  plainly  hinted  to 
Gonzalvo  that  the  Navahu  has  been  given  into  our 
hands  by  the  gods  for  that  purpose." 

Don  Diego  was  emphatic  in  his  horror,  but  the 
padre  explained  that  from  the  heathen  point  of  view 
it  was  not  so  cruel  as  might  be  thought.    When  the 


m      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


savages  went  to  war  they  prepared  themselves  for 
such  fate  if  captured.  More:  —  the  death  was  not 
torture.  The  ceremonies  were  religious  according  to 
the  pagan  idea  —  chants  and  prayers  and  garlands  of 
flowers  and  sacred  pine  were  a  part  of  the  ritual. 
The  blade  of  sacrifice  must  be  sharp,  and  the  heart 
removed  from  the  victim  quickly  and  held  to  the  sun 
or  the  star  behind  which  the  angry  god  waited. 
When  it  was  a  sacrifice  of  much  high  import,  it  was 
made  on  the  Mesa  of  the  Hearts,  and  in  remembrance 
a  heart  shaped  stone  was  always  left  near  the  shrine 
by  one  of  the  secondary  priests :  —  for  that  reason 
one  could  find  many  heart  shaped  stones,  large  and 
small  on  that  mesa.  When  a  medicine  man  found 
one,  even  in  a  far  hunting  ground,  he  brought  it  home 
for  that  purpose. 

"And  the  body  of  the  victim ?"  asked  Don  Ruy 
— "  I  have  been  on  that  mesa  and  seen  no  bones  — « 
what  becomes  of  it?  " 

"  If  it  is  trouble  of  floods  or  storm  or  drouth,  the 
victim  is  thrown  to  the  god  of  the  river  below.  On 
the  mesa  to  the  west  is  an  ancient  circle  of  stones 
with  the  entrance  to  the  east.  The  ordinary  sacrifice 
is  made  there  for  good  crops,  and  the  body  is  divided 
until  each  clan  may  have  at  least  a  portion  which  he 
consumes  with  many  prayers." 

Don  Diego  confessed  that  such  ritual  sat  ill  upon 
even  a  healthy  stomach,  for  his  own  part  the  open  air 
seemed  good  and  desirable,  and  he  was  of  a  mind  to 
return  whence  they  had  come,  rather  than  risk  longer 
unauthorized  visits  among  such  smiling  soft  voiced 
savages.  Since  his  eminence  had  learned  thus  much 
of  their  horrors,  who  was  to  know  how  many  might 
be  left  untold?^ — or  how  soon  the  tribes  might  have 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP  £79 


a  mind  to  circle  the  camp  and  offer  every  mother's  son 
of  the  Christians  on  some  such  devilish  altar? 

Even  while  he  spoke  a  curious  shock  ran  through 
the  men,  and  they  stared  at  each  other  in  amaze  and 
question.  Plainly  the  floor  had  lifted  under  their 
feet  as  though  some  demon  of  the  Underwold  had 
heaved  himself  upward  in  turning  over  in  his  sleep. 

Screams  and  loud  cries  were  heard  from  the 
terraces,  men  came  tumbling  up  the  ladders  from  the 
kivas,  and  Master  Chico  let  fall  a  slender  treasured 
volume  of  Senor  Ariosto's  romances  and  ran,  white 
faced  and  breathless  to  Don  Ruy,  who  caught  and 
held  him  while  the  world  swayed  about  them. 

In  truth  he  did  not  even  release  him  so  quickly  as 
might  be  after  the  tremor  had  passed,  but  no  man 
had  time  or  humor  to  note  the  care  with  which  he 
held  the  secretary,  or  that  it  was  the  lad  himself  who 
drew,  flushing  red,  from  the  embrace  of  very  strong 
arms. 

"I  —  I  feared  you  might  not  know  —  I  came  to 
tell  you  — "  was  the  lame  explanation  to  which  Don 
Ruy  listened,  and  smiled  while  he  listened. 

"  I  wonder  what  1  Dona  Bradamante  '  would  have 
done  in  all  her  bravery  of  white  armor  if  such  an 
earth  wave  had  shaken  her  tilting  court?  "  he  asked, 
but  the  secretary  did  not  know,  and  with  face  still 
flushed,  and  eyes  on  the  ground,  went  to  seek  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh  to  hear  if  this  was  a  usual  thing  that  walls 
lifted  in  wavy  lines  —  and  that  chimneys  toppled 
from  Te-hua  dwellings. 

The  old  people  said  it  was  long  since  the  earth 
had  shaken  itself,  and  they  watched  closely  the  Mesa 
of  the  Hearts,  and  the  mesa  of  the  god-maid  face, 
and  a  mountain  over  towards  Te-gat-ha.    If  the 


280       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


anger  of  the  earth  was  great  against  earth  people, 
then  smoke  would  come  from  certain  earth  breathing 
places, —  and  the  sentinels  kept  watch  —  and  the  old 
men  watched  also. 

And  around  the  village  went  a  murmur  of  dire  im- 
port —  for  it  was  plain  that  the  Great  Mystery  was 
sending  many  signs  to  the  Te-hua  people;  —  the  altars 
had  been  too  long  empty ! 

A  strange  foreboding  filled  the  air,  and  the  Cas- 
tilians  gathered  in  little  groups  and  talked.  To  send 
the  Navahu  captive  to  his  death  at  the  hands  of  the 
tribe  was  not  to  their  fancy,  but  if  a  member  of  a 
Te-hua  clan  must  be  offered  up,  who  could  tell  what 
vengeance  that  clan  might  not  take  on  the  strangers  ? 

Padre  Vicente  looked  over  all,  and  listened  to 
much,  and  then  talked  to  the  governor :  —  was  it  not 
the  time  to  take  strong  brothers  that  they  share  both 
the  evil  and  the  good  together? 

"  The  gods  are  certainly  not  well  pleased  with  us, 
we  make  offerings  and  we  make  prayers  —  and  the 
only  good  they  let  come  to  us  has  been  our  brothers 
of  the  iron  and  thunder  and  the  fire  sticks,"  said 
Phen-tzah.  "  Yes,  I  think  it  is  the  time  to  take 
brothers  of  a  strong  god." 

This  was  the  word  of  the  governor  and  it  was  the 
strongest  word  yet  given  for  union.  But  the  gov- 
ernor made  it  plain  that  he  did  not  belong  to  the  order 
holding  secret  of  the  sun  symbol.  The  Po-Athun 
were  the  people  who  must  decide  these  spirit  things. 
He  thought  the  hearts  of  the  old  men  of  that  order 
were  kind  and  soft  for  the  strangers,  but  —  the  head 
of  that  order  was  Tahn-te,  the  Po-Athun-ho ! 

This  gave  pause  for  thought,  every  man  who  chose 
to  go  contrary  to  the  will  of  Tahn-te,  found  himself 
well  nigh  helpless  in  the  Indian  land,  his  infernal 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP  281 


gods  were  so  strong  that  the  Castilians  were  none 
too  eager  to  flout  them,  only  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  seeing 
the  crisis  of  things,  crept  to  Juan  Gonzalvo  and 
whispered, 

"You  hate  the  Po-Athun-ho  —  and  you  say  love 
words  to  me.    You  think  you  want  me?" 

Juan  Gonzalvo  was  a  blunt  soldier  who  had  never 
before  been  kept  at  the  distance  of  Tantalus  by  an  ' 
Indian  girl  who  took  his  gifts.  On  her  brown  neck 
a  silver  necklace  of  his  shone  richly,  and  in  her  braided 
hair  corals  of  the  sea  gleamed  red.  While  others 
had  fled  to  the  altars  for  prayers, —  and  sprinkled 
sacred  pollen  to  the  Go-he-yahs  —  the  mediators  be- 
tween earth  and  spirit  world  —  Yahn  had  bathed  in 
the  river  and  made  herself  beautiful  with  Castilian 
gifts  and  barbaric  trinketry. 

To  the  man  who  measured  her  with  eager  eyes, 
she  looked  beautiful  as  the  Te-hua  goddess  of  whom 
she  had  told  him  —  Ta-ah-quea  who  brings  the 
Spring. 

He  told  her  so  while  he  devoured  her  with  his 
glances. 

"  Good!  "  she  said.  "  You  give  me  love,  and  you 
hate  the  Po-Athun-ho.  You  can  have  us  both  if  your 
heart  is  brave  this  night." 

His  arms  would  have  clasped  her  for  that  promise, 
but  she  eluded  him  and  laughed. 

"  Your  Don  Ruy  tells  you  the  Po-Athun-ho  must 
have  no  harm,"  she  whispered,  "  but  is  there  not 
among  your  men,  one,  maybe  even  three  soldiers  who 
are  master  of  the  bow, —  and  can  destroy  in  silence?  " 

Gonzalvo  was  himself  a  master  bowman  —  and 
had  some  pride  in  knowing  it,  also  he  could  if  need  be, 
pick  men  of  his  company  who  had  skill,  and  could  be 
trusted. 


28£      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  Could  you  send  these  men  as  if  to  hunt  or  to 
fish, —  could  you  have  them  find  the  way  past  the 
Te-hua  sentinels  to  the  place  where  they  camped  in 
the  pines?"  and  she  made  a  gesture  towards  Puye. 
"  Could  you  secretly  find  your  way  there  in  the  dark 
before  the  Mother  Moon  looks  full  on  the  face  of 
the  earth?  " 

"  I  can  do  this  —  and  I  can  do  more  than  this." 

"  Can  you  win  for  your  people  the  good  heart  of 
the  council  that  they  show  you  the  sun  symbol?  "  she 
asked.  "  Only  Tahn-te  closes  the  door  to  you,  and 
they  fear  Tahn-te.  Tell  me  why  your  hate  of  him 
is  strong." 

4 'His  father  was  the  Devil.  Through  the  devil 
soul  he  learns  magic  things." 

"  Good!  You  hear  the  wise  men  tell  of  a  maid 
of  evil  who  brought  the  tornado  and  the  battle  — 
and  now  brings  this  shake  of  the  world?  " 

"  The  witch  maid,"  and  Gonzalvo  crossed  himself 
■ — u  Yes  —  the  men  speak  of  her  in  whispers  —  and 
the  Indians  say  a  sacrifice  must  be  made." 

"  It  must  be  made,"  said  Yahn  Tsyn-deh,  and  her 
white  teeth  shut  tight  in  decision.  "  Maybe  it  hap- 
pens that  you  can  make  it,  and  win  the  council  — 
how  then?  " 

"I  —  make  the  sacrifice  —  I ? " 

"  Not  where  the  altar  is,"  soothed  Yahn  as  he  re- 
coiled from  the  thought.  "  But  listen  you !  —  maybe 
I  dream  —  but  listen !  —  maybe  the  witch  maid  is  a 
human  thing  with  the  heart  of  magic  like  Tahn-te, — 
maybe  I  can  find  them  together  for  you  in  the  sacred 
place  of  the  stars  in  Puye.  Maybe  the  spirit  of 
Tahn-te  has  been  traded  into  her  keeping,  and  with 
the  double  strength  of  evil  she  will  destroy  the  earth 
in  this  place.    The  stars  say  so ;  —  a  great  evil  is 


he  Led  Him  Up  the  Ancient  Stairway 

Page  295 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP  283 


coming!  The  medicine  men  see  it  in  the  sacred 
vessels  of  water  and  in  the  clear  stone  of  the  ancient 
prophets  —  they  say  so !  You  are  a  brave  heart  — 
you  can  save  these  people  and  win  the  gold  secret 
from  the  council.  If  you  want  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  for 
love  you  will  do  this  thing !  " 

Gonzalvo  stared  at  her  incredulous,  she  was  credit- 
ing him  with  a  power  that  would  place  him  high  in 
the  Castilian  camp  —  if  he  could  win !    And  more 

—  she  was  to  give  him  her  own  intense,  glowing,  rest- 
less self! 

"I  also  hate  Tahn-te, —  that  is  why!"  she  said 
frankly,  "  and  I  love  only  men  who  are  brave  above 
all  other  men.  Your  fire  sticks  of  thunder  must  not 
be  heard  on  the  heights  of  Puye,  but  when  Tahn-te 
and  the  witch  meet  there  in  the  night,  your  arrows 
must  send  them  together  to  the  Afterworld  —  not 
one  alone  —  but  together!  When  the  men  of  Te- 
hua  find  the  dead  witch  (for  the  men  of  Te-gat-ha 
and  the  Navahu  can  witness  that  it  is  the  one!)  and 
when  they  find  the  lion  robe  of  Tahn-te  on  her  body, 

—  and  other  gifts  of  Tahn-te  —  and  find  them  dead 
the  one  beside  the  other,  then  the  man  who  has  made 
this  happen  will  be  a  great  man !  Even  the  men  of 
Te-gat-ha  will  come  with  gifts,  and  the  men  of  Te- 
hua  will  give  you  honor,  and  will  open  the  trail  for 
you  to  the  sun  symbol.  There  will  be  no  Tahn-te 
to  put  evil  magic  on  them  for  doing  so !  When  he 
is  found  dead  with  the  witch  maid  they  will  see 
clearly  that  his  magic  was  evil  magic,  and  they  will 
have  breath  that  is  deep  and  free  again.  Also  I  — 
Yahn  Tsyn-deh  —  will  walk  beside  you  where  you 
choose." 

Low  and  rapid  was  her  speech  there  in  the  shadow 
of  the  adobe  wall  —  and  so  fair  was  the  dream  she 


284       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


made  clear  for  him,  that  he  felt  himself  grow  dazed 
with  the  glory  of  it  —  yet  he  was  a  strong  man ! 

If  it  was  true  that  Tahn-te  and  the  witch  nested 
together  in  the  ruins  of  Puye,  he  knew  well  that  the 
day  of  the  young  Ruler  was  ended  in  Povi-whah,  or 
in  any  Te-hua  council  where  it  was  known.  But  the 
strange  mental  or  spiritual  power  of  Tahn-te  made  it 
a  thing  of  danger  to  let  him  live  after  accusal  had 
been  made.  The  way  of  Yahn  seemed  the  best  of 
all  ways.  If  he  was  found  dead  beside  the  maid  ac- 
cursed, the  evidence  would  be  clear  against  him  — 
and  the  True  Faith  would  have  the  credit  for  such 
extermination ! 

He  knew  this  was  not  a  thing  to  speak  of  to  Don 
Ruy  —  and  though  the  padre  was  enemy  to  every 
thought  of  Tahn-te  —  he  feared  even  the  padre  — 
that  strange  man  who  knew  so  much  that  was  hidden 
in  Indian  life,  would  so  clearly  see  that  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh  was  as  much  the  motive  as  gain  of  the  gold, 
or  glory  for  Mother  Church. 

No, —  it  was  a  thing  to  think  out  alone. 

Yahn  pressed  his  hand  furtively  and  smiled  on  him 
as  he  left  her,  and  then  entered  her  own  dwelling  and 
sprinkled  prayer  meal  to  the  spirits  who  carry  mes- 
sages to  the  gods. 

Then  she  sent  a  child  for  Ka-yemo  and  gave  the 
child  some  dried  peaches  that  he  be  content  to  stay 
with  his  fellows  in  the  sunshine  and  eat  them. 

Ka-yemo  entered  her  dwelling  for  the  first  time  in 
many  moons  and  clasped  her  close,  and  then  seated 
himself  in  the  farthest  corner  from  the  Apache  god 
pictures  while  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  talked. 

Her  voice  was  low,  and  often  she  went  to  the  open- 
ing to  see  that  no  one  listened,  and  Ka-yemo  was 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP  285 


wonder-struck  at  the  greatness  of  the  thing  she 
whispered. 

"  You  have  won  scalps  in  this  battle  —  you  have 
led  the  men  in  the  scalp  dance,  and  the  people  know 
you  are  strong.  If  Tahn-te  went  out  of  the  world 
now,  at  this  time,  you  would  be  strongest.  This  is 
the  time  he  must  go  I  " 

"  But  if  the  vengeance  of  the  Castilians  came 
heavy?  " 

"  It  will  not  come  heavy.  Don  Ruy  has  forbidden 
Gonzalvo  even  to  speak  words  against  Tahn-te  to 
the  padre.  So  it  is  that  he  would  be  angry  if  Gon- 
zalvo sent  arrows  into  the  Po-Ahtun-ho.  You  must 
not  do  it,  for  his  magic  power  might  come  heavy  on 
your  head.  If  you  fear  to  destroy  the  Castilian 
capitan  you  are  foolish  in  your  thought  —  for  it  need 
never  be  known.  Look!  —  here  are  arrows  of  the 
Navahu,  from  the  place  of  battle  I  gathered  many, 
these  are  the  arrows  for  the  work.  Let  Gonzalvo 
risk  the  magic  of  Tahn-te,  and  the  magic  of  the 
witch  maid,  and  destroy  them,  then  you  must  alone, 
trail  the  Castilian,  that  he  comes  not  back  alive  to 
tell  how  it  was  done !  The  Navahu  arrows  will  take 
the  blame  from  your  head  —  it  will  be  plain  that 
some  Navahu  men  stayed  to  take  pay  for  their  dead ! 
So  it  will  be,  and  you,  Ka-yemo,  will  stand  high,  and 
your  clan  will  be  proud  that  no  man  stands  more 
high.  And  I  —  Yahn  —  will  be  with  you  each  step 
of  the  life  trail  —  and  each  step  we  dare  look  down 
on  all  others  and  be  proud.  The  songs  you  sing  can 
be  proud  songs !  " 

The  blood  of  Ka-yemo  jumped  in  his  veins  at  that 
picture  of  victory  as  drawn  by  Yahn  Tsyn-deh.  Now, 
since  she  had  asked  him  to  destroy  Juan  Gonzalvo 


286      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


was  he  at  last  content  in  the  thought  that  her  love  had 
not  wandered  from  him,  Ka-yemo !  Even  in  the  days 
of  silence  and  anger  had  he  held  her  spirit;  —  and  to 
do  that  with  a  woman  is  proof  that  a  man  is  strong ! 
It  made  him  feel  there  in  the  dwelling  of  Yahn  the 
Apache,  that  he  could  do  battle  in  the  open  for  her 
with  the  Castilian  capitan  if  need  be  and  have  no 
fear ;  —  how  much  more  then  would  he  dare  do  the 
work  to  be  done  in  secret  on  the  heights  I 

Thus  did  Yahn  Tysn-deh  spin  her  web  that  Tahn-te 
and  the  maid  of  the  forest  be  caught  in  its  meshes, 
and  it  seemed  good  to  her  that  the  men  of  iron  be 
killed  when  chance  offered;  —  especially  must  the 
Castilian  capitan  not  be  let  live  to  tell  the  clan  of 
Tahn-te  aught  of  how  the  plan  was  made ;  —  and 
above  all  had  she  spoken  truth  to  the  Woman  of  the 
Twilight  by  the  path  to  the  well:  —  her  life  was  as 
the  life  of  Ka-yemo;  —  if  the  Castilian  escaped  and 
dared  claim  the  price  she  offered  — ! 

At  that  thought  Yahn  felt  for  the  knife  in  her 
girdle,  and  had  joy  that  the  edge  of  it  was  keen  as 
the  steel  of  the  Castilians,  and  her  smile  was  a 
threat  as  she  almost  felt  her  hand  thrust  and  twist  it 
in  the  flesh  of  the  man  of  iron  who  had  dared  think 
himself  the  equal  of  Ka-yemo! 

Some  savage  creatures  of  the  wilderness  there  are 
who  choose  their  mates,  and  stand,  to  live  or  to  die, 
against  all  foes  who  would  break  the  bond.  The 
tigress  will  watch  her  mate  do  battle  for  her  and  then 
follow  his  conqueror, —  but  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  had  not 
even  so  much  as  that  meekness  of  the  tiger  in  her;  — ■ 
her  own  share  of  the  battle  would  she  fight  that  the 
mate  she  chose  should  remain  unconquered.  Proud 
she  was  of  his  beauty  and  of  his  grace  in  the  scalp 
dance, —  but  more  proud  would  she  be  when  no 


THE  APACHE  DEATH  TRAP  287 


serene  young  Po-Athun-ho  looked  at  her  lover  as  if 
from  a  high  place  of  thought.  It  was,  strangely 
enough,  the  unspoken  in  Tahn-te  against  which  she 
rebelled  in  bitterness.  No  word  that  was  not  gentle 
had  he  ever  spoken  to  her  —  and  to  Ka-yemo  no  word 
that  lacked  dignity.  It  was  as  if  the  man  in  his 
thoughts  was  enthroned  on  the  clouds :  —  and  at  last 
she  had  found  the  way  for  that  cloud  to  be  dragged 
low  in  the  dust  I. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  CHOICE  OF  YAHN  TSYN-DEH 

ND  while  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  laid  the  trap,  and 


the  medicine  drums  sounded,  and  the  women 


X  JL  gathered  the  children  close  because  of  the 
trembling  earth,  one  girl  robed  in  the  skin  of  a  moun- 
tain lion  waited  alone  at  the  portal  of  the  star,  and 
knelt  in  the  shadow,  and  looked  with  eyes  of  fear  at 
the  great  pieces  of  severed  cliff,  or  ancient  wall  sent 
crashing  downwards  by  the  force  of  the  earth  shock. 

Past  her  portal  they  had  crashed  until  it  seemed 
the  roof  must  fall  also,  and  she  gathered  the  robe  of 
Tahn-te  about  her,  and  came  as  far  as  might  be  into 
the  open  —  and  watched  with  longing  eyes  the  trail 
across  the  mesa  to  the  great  river !  —  for  that  trail 
was  as  the  path  of  the  sun  to  her, —  or  the  rainbow  in 
the  skyl 

The  feet  of  Tahn-te  had  touched  that  trail,  and 
when  the  night  came,  and  the  moon  rose  in  the  great 
circle  over  the  eastern  hills  —  over  that  trail  would 
he  come,  and  though  the  mountains  themselves 
crashed  downwards  to  the  mesa,  he  would  hold  her 
close,  and  the  very  spirits  of  darkness  could  send  no 
more  fear! 

She  kept  very  still  there  waiting  at  the  portal,  for 
strange  noises  were  heard  on  the  mesa,  a  dislodged 
stone  rumbling  down  the  long  slope  —  or  a  bit  of 
loose  clay  falling  from  the  ancient  walls.  At  times 
the  smaller  sounds  suggested  passing  feet  —  and 


288 


THE  CHOICE  OF  YAHN  TSYN-DEH  289 


above  all  things  must  she  remain  hidden  from  people 
until  he  came  for  her  —  he  —  the  god-like  one  who 
had  brought  her  to  this  dwelling  so  akin  to  the 
dwellings  of  the  Divine  Ones  of  the  Navahu  land  in 
the  place  called  Tse-ye.  The  difference  was  that  the 
Tse-ye  dwellings  were  deep  in  the  heart  of  the  world 

—  while  these  dwellings  were  lifted  high  above  the 
world. 

But  she  knew  without  words  that  he  indeed  be- 
longed to  the  Divine  Ones  ere  he  brought  her  to  the 
ancient  dwellings.  That  her  name  had  been  in  his 
heart,  and  on  his  lips  before  she  herself  had  told  him, 
was  but  a  part  of  the  strange  sweet  magic  of  the  new 
life  into  which  he  had  led  her. 

Through  the  storms  —  and  the  dark  nights  —  and 
the  long  days  of  loneliness  had  she  lived  since  he  Had 
hidden  her  first  from  the  scouts  of  Te-gat-ha  —  but 
they  had  passed  over  her  as  dreams  of  sweetness  pass. 

—  That  the  groves  of  pine,  or  the  mesa  of  the  river, 
hid  him  from  her  sight,  did  not  mean  to  her  that  he 
had  quite  gone  away,  the  wonderful  magic  wrought 
by  him  made  it  possible  for  her  to  feel  his  arms  about 
her  even  when  she  lay  alone  in  the  darkness  of  the 
dwelling  of  the  star.  To  be  hidden  like  that,  and  to 
watch  for  his  coming,  was  to  be  granted  much  joy  by 
the  gods.  That  the  gods  exact  payment  for  all  joys 
more  than  mortal,  was  one  secret  Tahn-te  did  not 
whisper  to  her,  though  the  thought  had  clouded  his 
own  eyes  more  than  once  as  he  clasped  her  close  to 
him. 

What  the  gods  would  exact  he  did  not  know,  but 
daily  and  nightly  he  made  prayers  to  the  mediators 
of  the  spirit  land,  and  hoped  in  his  heart  that  the  god 
of  his  people  prove  not  akin  to  the  jealous  god  of  the 
men  of  iron;  —  for  a  jealous  god  would,  without 


290       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


doubt,  take  her  from  him!  Against  men  he  could 
protect  her  —  but  if  the  gods  awoke  ■ —  and  were 
jealous  — 

%  And  he  remembered  the  fastings,  and  the  penance, 
and  the  prayers  by  which  he  had,  unknown  to  all 
others,  dedicated  his  life  to  the  gods  alone ! 

But  of  this  he  said  no  word  —  only  held  her  more 
close  in  his  thoughts  —  but  ever  a  gray  shadow  moved 
beside  him  —  the  shadow  of  an  unknown  fear  * — ■  and 
it  was  the  same  shadow  by  which  he  had  been  led  to 
count  over  the  seeds  of  the  sacred  growth  —  that  he 
be  sure  it  was  in  his  power  to  make  the  death  sleep 
beautiful  to  her,  if  the  death  sleep  should  shorten 
their  trail  together  in  the  Earth  Life. 

She  knew  nothing  of  his  fear,  and  watched  each 
lengthening  shadow  with  delight  —  since  the  grow- 
ing shadows  were  heralds  of  his  coming!  Even  the 
trembling  of  the  earth  was  forgotten  in  that  joy  — 
and  she  scarcely  noted  that  the  air  had  grown 
strangely  sultry  —  almost  a  thing  of  weight  it  seemed; 
—  a  brooding,  waiting  spirit,  silencing  even  the  whis^ 
per  of  the  pines  —  and  the  whisper  of  the  pine  was 
sacred  music  to  the  Te-hua  people ;  —  through  all  the 
ages  it  had  whispered,  until  in  a  good  hour  it  had 
given  voice  to  their  earth-born  god! 

She  knew  not  anything  of  the  gods  of  her  own 
people,  and  the  ominous  silence  of  the  pines  meant 
not  to  her  what  they  would  mean  to  a  girl  of  the  river 
villages.  But  the  magic  of  the  place  did  make  itself 
felt  to  her  when  her  robe,  as  she  touched  it,  sent  out 
little  snappings  as  of  fireflies'  wings,  and  far  across  the 
land  tiny  flashes  flamed  from  earth  to  sky  as  the  dusk 
grew.  When  she  shook  looose  her  hair  that  she 
might  arrange  it  more  pleasing  for  his  sight,  she  was 
startled  by  the  tiny  crackling,  like  finest  of  twigs  in  a 


THE  CHOICE  OF  YAHN  TSYN-DEH  291 


blaze  —  and  to  smooth  it  into  braids  silenced  none  of 
the  strange  magic ;  —  each  time  her  hand  touched  it, 
the  little  sparks  flashed  —  under  the  heavy  brooding 
atmosphere,  electric  forces  were  at  work  in  strange 
ways  —  and  on  the  heights  of  Puye  they  have  for 
ages  been  proof  of  the  magic  in  those  mountains. 

Therefore  is  it  a  place  for  prayer. 

Startled  by  the  strange  earth  breathings,  the  girl 
crept  within  the  portal  for  her  waiting  —  and  the 
dusk  was  too  deep  for  sight  across  the  rolling  land 
of  ancient  field,  and  pinon  wood  far  below. 

Had  she  kept  the  watch  she  might  have  seen  more 
than  one  figure  approach  the  heights  from  different 
ways  —  only  a  glimpse  could  be  had,  but  through 
the  dusk  of  pinon  groves  certainly  two  figures  moved 
together,  a  man  and  a  woman,  and  even  before  them 
one  man  stole  alone  from  the  south,  and  halted  often 
as  if  to  plan  the  better  way  of  approach. 

The  man  and  woman  skirted  the  foot  of  the  mesa, 
and  crept  upward  on  the  side  to  the  north. 

"  It  is  the  hard  way  to  climb  you  have  come,"  said 
the  man,  and  the  strange  heavy  air  caused  them  to 
stop  for  breath,  and  as  she  reached  to  cling  to  the 
hand  of  the  man,  he  drew  back  with  a  gasp  of  terror. 
As  their  hands  touched,  a  little  electric  shock  ran 
through  each, —  it  was  plain  they  had  reached  the  do- 
main where  the  witch  of  evil  powers  held  sway. 

"  It  is  not  I  whom  you  need  fear,"  said  Yahn 
Tsyn-deh, — "  it  is  the  witch  maid  of  Tahn-te,  and  we 
have  come  to  see  the  killing." 

"  And  if  —  if  Gonzalvo  grows  weak  on  the  trail  — > 
or  if  his  men  take  fear  from  this  evil  magic  of  the 
mesa  of  Puye?  " 

"  No  other  men  come  with  him  —  we  talked  —  we 
two!    Alone  he  will  do  it:  —  for  me!"  she  said 


292      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


proudly.  "  He  knows  the  strong  bow,  with  it  he  will 
send  the  arrow  first  to  the  man, —  that  will  be  when 
they  stand  clear  in  the  moonlight.  Then  to  the 
witch :  —  that  all  people  may  see  they  were  near  to 
each  other.  The  arrows  are  good  and  the  bow  is 
good.  I  saw  that  it  was  so ;  —  also  I  saw  that  no 
man  of  our  people  can  use  it  better  than  can  Gon- 
zalvo.  By  the  river  I  watched  him.  He  needs  no 
fire  sticks  to  find  the  heart  of  an  enemy  —  alone  he 
can  do  it  with  an  arrow." 

Ka-yemo  looked  at  hes  sullenly, —  she  was  giving 
much  of  praise  to  the  man  she  would  have  him  de- 
troy ! 

"  How  are  you  sure  that  he  does  not  bring  the 
thunder  and  lightning  stick  also?"  he  demanded, — 
"  and  how  are  you  sure  that  it  is  not  used  for  me?  " 

"  Oh  —  fool  you!  —  who  make  fears  out  of 
shadows  —  yet  are  so  big  to  fight  1"  she  breathed 
softly.  "  Why  is  it  that  the  Navahu  or  the  other 
wild  people  do  not  make  you  fear  —  yet  the  Gas- 
tilians  — " 

"  They  are  truly  men  of  iron.  rAs  a  boy  I  saw 
the  things  they  could  do,"  he  answered. — "  Not  as 
men  do  I  fear  them,  but  it  is  their  strong  god  who 
tames  their  beasts." 

"  Your  arrows  are  good,"  said  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  with 
conviction, — "  when  you  see  him  dead  as  other  men 
die,  you  will  know  that  our  own  gods  are  also  strong." 

The  dark  had  fallen  heavily,  and  only  the.  Ancient 
Star  gleamed  threatening  as  it  waited  for  the  moon. 
The  smaller  stars  were  not  seen  and  the  shadows  were 
very  dense. 

Because  of  this  a  strange  thing  came  to  them  as 
they  reached  the  summit.  Strong  as  was  the  heart 
of  Yahn  the  Apache,  she  was  struck  by  terror,  and 


THE  CHOICE  OF  YAHN  TSYN-DEH  293 


Ka-yemo  knew  that  the  great  god  of  the  men  of  iron 
had  sent  a  threat  for  his  eyes  to  see. 

For,  still  and  erect  against  a  dark  wall  of  the  Lost 
Others,  stood  a  man  outlined  in  fire.  In  Castilian 
war  dress  he  stood,  and  little  flickering  lines  of  fire 
ran  along  helmet  and  breastplate  and  lance.  No 
face  could  they  see  of  the  horror,  which  added  to, 
rather  than  lessened  the  terror  of  Ka-yemo.  A  living 
face  he  could  meet  and  fight  —  but  this  burning  ghost 
of  a  man  not  yet  dead  —  I 

He  turned  and  stumbled  downward  blindly,  and 
Yahn  Tsyn-deh  clung  to  him  and  gripped  his  hand 
cruelly  for  silence,  and  when  they  sank  at  last  beside 
a  great  boulder,  her  arms  were  around  him,  as  though 
that  clasp  kept  the  solid  world  from  crumbling  be- 
neath her  feet. 

"  No  —  no  —  no !  "  muttered  Ka-yemo  as  though 
she  had  actually  uttered  words  of  persuasion, — "  it  is 
what  their  padre  said  long  ago.  Their  strong  god 
has  an  army  of  saints,  and  of  angels, —  they  stand 
guard;  —  all  who  go  against  them  are  swept  into 
the  flames  of  their  Underworld!  It  is  what  the 
Padre  Luis  said  —  and  now  it  has  been  seen  by 
my  eyes!  Their  altars  are  the  stronger  altars, — 
we  will  go  there  —  we  will  both  go;  —  the  fire  of 
their  hell  will  not  reach  us  at  their  altar  —  the  medi- 
cine prayers  of  their  padre  are  strong  prayers  —  we 
will  go  to  him  — " 

The  old  fear  of  his  boyhood  had  enveloped  him  as 
the  unchained  electric  force  had  enveloped  the  heigths. 
Yahn  Tsyn-deh  put  up  her  hand  to  her  throat ;  — 
she  felt  herself  strangle  for  breath  as  she  listened. 

"  It  was  some  trick !  "  she  insisted  —  though  she 
also  had  trembled  with  awe  —  Listen  to  me !  —  they 
have  many  tricks  —  these  white  men !    Because  of 


2<H      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


a  trick  will  you  go  to  their  altars,  and  be  shamed  in 
your  clan  ?  Their  priest  is  the  head  of  all  things  — 
will  you  follow  the  steps  of  another  when  you  can 
wear  the  feathers  of  a  leader?  Will  you  be  laughed 
at  by  the  tribe  ?  Hear  —  oh  hear !  —  and  let  your 
heart  listen!  Never  again  will  the  gods  send  you 
this  chance  to  be  great  —  this  is  your  day  and  your 
night!" 

"  Their  devils  keep  guard  —  the  flames  of  their 
hell  no  man  can  fight !  " 

"  Ka-yemo !  —  I  am  holding  you  close  —  I  give 
myself  to  you !  —  one  arrow  only  must  you  send  when 
the  witch  maid  is  killed,  and  Tahn-te  is  killed, —  one 
arrow,  and  forever  you  are  the  highest,  and  I  am  your 
slave  to  give  you  love !    Ka-yemo !  " 

The  light  of  the  moon  was  sending  a  glow  above 
Na-im-be  mountains.  The  moon  itself  was  not  yet 
seen,  but  enough  light  was  on  the  mesa  for  the  plead- 
ing girl  to  see  the  face  of  the  man  she  adored. 

The  face  was  averted  and  turned  from  her.  In 
terror  he  bent  the  arrow  shafts  across  his  knee,  and 
flung  the  bow  far  down  into  the  shadows. 

"  Ka-yemo!  " —  she  moaned  as  the  last  vestige  of 
her  idol  was  destroyed  by  his  own  hand;  — "  do  you- 
give  me  then  to  the  Castilian?  Must  /  pay  the 
debt?" 

"  Against  the  gods  of  their  hell  I  will  not  send 
arrows,"  he  muttered  — "  He  may  not  claim  you  — 
the  sign  sent  to  me  here  is  a  strong  sign  —  a  god  of 
fire  is  a  strong  god  —  and  I  am  only  a  man !  It  may 
be  that  if  we  go  to  their  padre  —  and  if  we 
confess  — " 

She  could  see  that  he  was  blindly  groping  in  his 
mind  for  some  chance  —  some  little  chance,  to  be 


THE  CHOICE  OF  YAHN  TSYN-DEH  295 


forgiven  —  to  be  forgiven  by  the  Castilians  whose 
feet  would  be  on  his  neck  —  and  on  hers! 

It  was  his  day  and  his  night,  and  he  had  thrown  it 
away!  Never  again  could  the  day  dawn  in  joy  for 
those  two. 

She  drew  him  to  her  as  the  light  grew,  and  looked 
in  the  face  she  had  loved  from  babyhood.  It  was  a 
long  look,  and  a  strange  one.  She  was  thinking  of 
the  archer  above  them  who  waited  to  send  death  to  a 
man  and  a  maid ! 

"  What  is  it?  "  he  asked  as  her  fingers  slipped  from 
his  shoulder  along  his  arm  and  clasped  his  hand  with 
the  closeness,  the  firmness  of  settled  resolve. 

"  It  is  that  you  have  chosen,''  she  said  quietly. 
"  It  is  the  right  of  the  man  to  choose;  —  and  it  will 
be  well.  It  is  the  right  of  the  woman  to  follow :  and 
before  the  moon  comes  again  from  the  blanket  of  the 
east  we  will  know  —  and  the  gods  will  know,  that  the 
choice  is  a  good  choice !  " 

She  held  his  hand  and  led  him  upwards;  —  steadily, 
yet  without  haste.  The  edge  of  the  moon  showed 
red,  and  the  moon  was  to  be  clear  of  the  mountains 
when  Tahn-te  came  to  the  portal  of  the  star  —  thus 
had  his  mother  told  the  girl  while  Yahn  listened  like 
a  coiled  snake  close  to  the  well. 

To  Ka-yemo,  Yahn  seemed  again  the  adoring 
creature  of  love.  She  held  him  close,  and  whispered 
endearing  things.  Never  had  Yahn,  the  Apache 
tigress,  let  him  see  how  completely  her  love  could 
make  her  gentle  and  make  him  master.  The  sweet- 
ness of  it,  and  the  absolute  relief  when  the  arrows 
were  destroyed  —  gave  him  a  sense  of  security;  — 
It  would  be  easy  to  confess  to  the  padre;  —  the  Cas- 
tilians would  be  glad  of  converts  —  and  Juan  Gon- 


296      THE  FLUTE  OF.  THE  GODS 


zalvo  —  someway  they  could  'make  words  to  Juan 
Gonzalvo  —  and  padre  would  help  —  and  — 

Holding  closely  his  hand  she  led  him  up  the  ancient 
stairway,  and  the  little  doorways  of  the  cliff  dwellings 
showed  black,  for  the  moon  had  slipped  above  the 
far  hills  and  shone,  a  dulled  ball  of  fire  through  the 
sultry  haze.  Enough  light  it  threw  on  the  white 
cliffs  to  show  any  moving  creature,  and  Ka-yemo 
glanced  fearfully  towards  the  portal  of  the  star,  for 
surely  a  movement  was  there! 

But  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  at  the  head  of  the  stairway 
looked  straight  ahead  where  a  man  with  a  strong  bow 
held  himself  close  in  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock. 
When  the  twang  of  the  bow  string  sounded,  she 
loosened  not  her  hand  from  that  of  Ka-yemo  as  he 
fell,  but  with  her  other  hand  she  pulled  aside  the  robe 
from  her  breast  —  also  the  necklace  of  the  white 
metal,  that  not  anything  turn  aside  the  point  of  the 
arrow  which  was  to  follow. 

And  when  it  came  she  fell  to  her  knees,  and  then 
over  the  huddled  body  of  the  man  she  had  loved  and 
led  to  death. 

She  loosened  not  her  hand,  and  only  once  she 
spoke. 

"  It  is  a  good  choice, "  she  whispered,  but  he  had 
led  the  way  into  the  Twilight  Land  —  and  she  fol- 
lowed as  she  had  said  was  the  right  of  a  woman. 

And  the  clan  of  Ka-yemo  could  chant  songs  of 
bravery  all  their  days  and  not  know  that  Yahn  the 
Apache  had  saved  the  pride  of  her  father's  people, 
and  had  hidden  the  weakness  of  Ka-yemo  on  the 
heights  of  Puye ! 


CHAPTER  XXI 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  ANCIENT  STAR 

WHEN  the  moon  had  scarce  reached  the 
center  of  the  sky,  a  gray  faced  man  slipped 
through  the  corn  fields  of  the  river  lands, 
and  spoke  to  the  Spanish  sentry  who  paced  before  the 
dwellings  where  the  camp  was  made  outside  the  wall. 

The  sentry  wondered  who  the  woman  was  who  had 
held  him  belated,  for  many  were  now  coming  from 
Shufinne,  and  some  of  them  were  pretty. 

But  Capitan  Gonzalvo  laid  himself  down  to  dream 
of  no  woman.  He  crept  to  the  pallet  of  Padre 
Vicente.  There  were  no  words  lest  others  be 
aroused,  but  a  pressure  of  a  hand  was  enough  to  bring 
the  padre  to  his  feet,  the  sleep  of  the  man  was  ever 
light  as  that  of  one  who  does  sentry  duty  day  time  and 
night  time. 

Out  into  the  open  of  the  summer  night  they  both 
passed,  and  in  the  shadow  of  a  wall  where  the  Te- 
hua  sentinel  could  not  see,  a  man  of  iron  broke  down 
and  half  sobbed  a  confession  of  horror. 

The  padre  paced  to  and  fro  in  the  dusk  of  the 
night,  and  gave  not  over  much  care  to  the  shaken 
heart  of  the  penitent. 

"  A  hundred  Aves,  and  half  as  many  rosaries, — - 
and  candles  for  the  altar  of  San  Juan  when  we  re- 
turn to  Mexico."  He  tabulated  the  penance  on  his 
fingers,  with  his  mind  clearly  not  on  those  details. 

"  Take  you  courage  now,  and  hark  to  me,"  he  said 
297. 


298      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


brusquely.  "  You  say  you  saw  the  maid  and  the  man 
dead  one  on  the  other;  —  and  that  you  fled  across  the 
mesa  at  sight  of  their  faces.  That  pretty  Apache 
devil  told  you  that  the  witch  lived  at  that  place,  and 
that  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  was  her  lover.  How  know 
you  that  it  was  not  indeed  witchcraft  you  looked 
upon?  How  know  you  that  the  infernal  magic  was 
;not  used  to  change  the  faces  of  the  two  that  you  be 
sent  home  not  knowing  which  are  dead  and  which  are 
living?    This  may  yet  be  turned  to  our  advantage." 

Juan  Gonzalvo  was  past  thinking.  Not  though 
gold  was  found  as  plentiful  as  the  white  stones  of  Puye 
would  he  again  go  to  the  witch  accursed  spot !  His 
own  armor  had  been  touched  by  the  fire  of  hell  in  that 
place  until  he  had  lain  it  aside  while  he  waited  for  the 
coming  of  the  sorcerer,  and  the  sorcerer  had  in  some 
way  kept  hidden  —  magic  spells  had  been  worked  to 
blind  the  eyes  of  Gonzalvo  to  the  faces  of  the  others 
—  even  though  light  was  given  for  the  arrows  to  speed 
true !  He  would  fight  living  Indians  in  the  open :  — 
but  no  more  would  he  trail  witches  in  the  dark ! 

So  he  mumbled  and  made  prayers  and  calmed  him- 
self somewhat  at  sight  of  the  calm,  ever  cool  padre. 

"  Go  you  to  your  rest,"  said  his  reverence  at  last, — ■ 
"  and  forget  all  the  work  of  this  night." 

"  Forget?  —  but  they  will  be  found  —  they  - — " 

"  I  will  see  that  they  are  found,  but  let  it  not  trouble 
you,"  stated  Padre  Vicente.  "  We  must  meet  trickery 
by  trickery  here.  Go  to  your  bed,  and  sleep  too  sound 
for  early  waking." 

"  But  —  how  — " —  between  the  shock  and  fear  of 
the  night,  Gonzalvo  fairly  clung  to  the  quiet  strength 
of  the  padre. 

"  Take  your  sleep :  —  and  keep  a  still  tongue  for- 
ever!   I  have  had  a  dream  or  a  vision  this  nighti" 


CALL  OF  THE  ANCIENT  STAR  29S 


and  the  padre  smiled  grimly.  "  I  can  as  well  afford 
a  vision  as  can  the  elect  of  the  Po-Ahtun  1  — » and  my 
vision  will  send  people  of  Ka-yemo's  clan  to  search  for 
dead  friends  on  the  heights  of  Puye !  " 

u  And  if  they  find  there  also  —  ?  " 

"  Ah !  "  and  the  padre  nodded  and  smiled  that  the 
thought  had  penetrated  the  shocked  mind  of  Capitan 
Gonzalvo; — "If  they  find  there  also  the  evidence 
that  their  high  priest  is  the  lover  of  a  witch  —  and 
that  he  runs  from  council  prayers  to  meet  her  in  the 
night :  —  is  that  not  the  best  of  all  things  the  saints 
could  send  us?  You  have  done  good  work  for  the 
cause  this  night,  Juan  Gonzalvo.  Go  now  to  your 
sleep  —  and  when  you  hear  of  that  which  is  found  on 
Puye,  you  hear  it  for  the  first  time !  " 

The  council  of  that  night  had  been  a  late  council 
because  of  the  quaking  of  the  earth.  Every  one  knew 
it  was  time  that  a  sacrifice  be  made  to  the  visitor  in  the 
sky.  All  of  evil  was  coming  to  the  land  because  this 
had  not  been  done.  One  Yutah  slave  belonged  to  the 
Quan  clan,  and  a  robe  and  shell  beads  must  be  given 
by  the  vote  of  the  council  to  that  clan.  It  would  be  a 
better  thing  to  use  the  new  Navahu  who  was  made 
captive  by  the  men  of  iron,  but  their  new  brothers 
would  not  listen  to  this  wisdom. 

When  the  sun  looked  over  the  edge  of  the  moun- 
tain in  the  new  day  the  sun  must  see  the  heart  lifted 
high ;  —  and  the  body  must  go  to  the  murmuring 
river  - —  then  only  could  hope  come  that  the  evil  magic 
be  lifted  from  the  land  of  the  Te-hua  people. 

Thus  the  vote  had  been,  and  thus  had  Tahn-te  been 
held  in  council  long  after  the  time  the  Moon  Mother 
came  over  Ni-am-be  mountains. 

Don  Ruy  was  at  that  council,  and  asked  to  speak 
against  the  offering  of  blood  to  the  god  whose  eye  was 


300      THE  FLUTE  OF.  THE  GODS 


as  the  star.  But  Tahn-te  listened  and  then  spoke, 
"  Your  own  god  of  the  book  asks  for  sacrifice  — 
your  god  of  the  book  accepted  his  own  son  as  a  sac- 
rifice-—  and  that  people  prospered!  Your  priests 
teach  the  blood  atonement,  and  the  death  they  gave 
the  earth-born  god  was  a  hard  death  —  if  he  had 
really  died  there!  Being  a  god  he  could  not  die  in 
that  way ;  —  all  medicine  men  who  know  strong  magic 
know  that.  But  the  blood  was  spilled  and  the  spirit 
went  away  from  that  place  —  the  earth  gods  always 
go  away  like  that  while  they  are  young ;  —  never  do 
they  die.  There  are  days  —  and  there  are  nights, 
when  they  come  back !  They  speak  in  many  ways  to 
earth  people.  You  men  of  iron  do  not  to-day  make 
blood  sacrifice  to  your  gods ;  —  so  you  say !  Yet  your 
people  go  out  to  battle  and  kill  many  people  for  your 
god  —  also  many  of  your  own  people  are  killed  in 
such  god  wars  —  your  tribes  of  different  names  call 
these  wars  '  holy  \  Our  people  do  not  think  like 
that.  Even  the  wild  tribes  hold  the  Great  Mystery 
sacred  in  their  hearts*  They  will  fight  for  hunting 
ground,  or  to  steal  women  or  corn  —  but  to  fight 
about  the  gods  would  bring  evil  magic  on  the  land  — 
the  old  men  could  not  be  taught  that  it  is  a  good  thing ! 
Also  your  Holy  Office  has  the  torch,  and  the  rack,  and 
the  long  death  of  torture  for  the  man  who  cannot  be- 
lieve. The  priests  of  your  jealous  god  do  that  work, 
and  their  magic  is  strong  over  men.  You  talk  against 
our  altars,  but  on  our  altars  there  is  not  torture, — 
there  is  one  quick  pain  —  and  the  door  of  the  Twilight 
Land  is  open  and  the  spirit  is  loose!  This  world 
where  we  live  is  a  very  ancient  world,  but  it  is  not  yet 
finished.  All  the  old  men  can  tell  you  that.  It  may 
be  in  the  unborn  days  that  earth  creatures  may  see  the 


CALL  OF  THE  ANCIENT  STAR  301 


world  when  it  finished, —  and  when  the  gods  come 
back,  and  speak  in  the  sunlight  to  men.  In  that  time 
the  sacrifice  may  be  a  different  sacrifice.  But  in  this 
time  we  follow  the  ancient  way  for  the  gods  have  not 
shown  us  a  different  way." 

"You  have  studied  much  in  books  —  you  have 
learned  much  from  men,"  said  Don  Ruy  — "You 
could  change  the  minds  of  these  people  in  this  matter." 

Tahn-te  looked  kindly  on  him,  but  shook  his  head. 

"  Not  in  the  ages  of  ten  men  can  you  change  the 
mind  of  the  men  you  called  Indian,"  he  said,  "  in  my 
one  life  I  could  not  make  them  see  this  as  you  see  it  — 
yet  am  I  called  strong  among  them.  Also  I  could  not 
tell  them  that  the  way  of  the  white  priest  when  he 
breaks  the  bones  in  torture  until  the  breath  goes,  is  a 
better  way  than  to  take  the  heart  quickly  for  the  god ! 
That  would  be  a  lie  if  I  said  it,  and  true  magic  does 
not  come  to  the  man  who  knows  that  he  is  himself  a 
teller  of  lies!  " 

The  men  of  the  council  went  their  separate  ways  to 
sleep  in  the  kivas,  well  content  that  the  angry  god  was 
to  be  appeased  at  the  rising  of  the  sun, —  and  Don 
Ruy  rolled  himself  in  his  blanket  and  lay  near  the  door 
where  Ysobel  and  her  husband  lived  apart  from  the 
camp,  with  only  the  secretary  inside  their  walls.  But 
Don  Ruy  slept  little  —  and  cursed  the  heathenish 
logic  of  Tahn-te,  and  wished  him  to  the  devil. 

And  stealthily  as  a  serpent  in  the  grasses, —  or  a 
panther  in  the  hills,  Tahn-te  sped  from  the  council  of 
sacrifice,  to  the  hills  where  he  knew  a  girl  had  waited 
long  for  his  coming. 

Little  thought  gave  he  to  trailers.  The  night  be- 
fore had  been  the  night  of  the  scalp  dance  —  and 
now  the  trembling  earth,  and  the  council,  had  left  the 


302      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


men  weary  for  the  rest  of  sleep.  He  ran  swiftly  and 
steadily  in  the  open  as  any  courier  to  Shufinne  might 
run. 

But  those  of  the  Tain-tsain  clan  who  followed, 
noted  that  he  did  not  go  to  Shufinne, —  he  climbed  in- 
stead the  steeps  where  they  were  to  climb,  and  for  that 
reason  their  coming  was  stealthy,  and  the  cleverest 
men  were  sent  ahead,  and  all  said  prayers  and  cast 
prayer  meal  to  the  gods, —  for  this  was  a  strange 
thing  the  white  priest  had  seen  in  a  vision  —  it  was 
to  be  proven  if  he  was  of  the  prophets ! 

The  two  couriers  of  the  clan  knew  it  was  proven 
when  they  saw  the  two  dead  people  near  the  head  of 
the  stone  stairway.  And  when  they  heard  the  sobs  of 
a  woman  within  the  dwelling  of  the  Reader  of  the 
Stars  in  the  ancient  days  —  also  the  soothing  tones 
of  a  man, —  they  crept  back  into  the  shadows  and  told 
the  leaders.  And  a  circle  of  men  was  made  about  the 
place,  and  in  silence  they  waited. 

Ere  their  hearts  had  ceased  to  beat  quickly  from 
the  run,  that  which  they  waited  for  stepped  forth ;  — 
a  man  to  whom  a  creature  clung  —  her  face  was 
hidden  against  his  breast,  and  he  led  her  with  care  lest 
she  see  the  dead  people  on  the  stairway  —  for  the 
Navahu  shrinks  more  than  another  from  sight  or 
touch  of  the  dead! 

"  There  are  other  places  —  and  safe  places,"  he 
said  to  her  and  held  her  close.  "  Does  not  the  blue- 
bird find  nesting  place  in  the  forest?  And  does  not 
her  mate  find  her  there  in  the  summer  nights?  " 

And  then  —  with  his  arms  around  her,  and  his 
robe  covering  her,  his  path  was  closed  by  a  warrior 
who  stood  before  him!  His  eyes  turned  quickly  on 
every  side,  but  on  every  side  was  a  circle  of  men^ h 


CALL  OF  THE  ANCIENT  STAR  303 


and  the  men  were  all  of  the  clan  of  Ka-yemo  to  whom 
Tahn-te  had  never  been  precious  since  the  days  of  boy- 
hood —  and  the  camp  of  Coronado. 

And  the  younger  men  were  for  claiming  the  maid 
when  they  saw  her  face,  and  the  older  men  read 
triumph  against  Tahn-te  for  the  work  of  this  night. 

11  That  which  is  meant  for  the  gods  is  not  to  be 
given  to  men,"  they  said  in  chiding  to  the  young  men, 
and  Tahn-te  knew  what  they  meant  when  they  said  it. 

"  It  is  the  Navahu  witch  maid  of  Te-gat-ha,"  cried 
another — "look  —  brothers!  This  is  a  Navahu 
arrow  through  the  eye  of  Ka-yemo,  and  through  the 
heart  of  Yahn  Tsyn-deh.  Alone  here  she  has  de- 
stroyed them !  —  and  alone  here  would  Tahn-te  the 
Po-Ahtun-ho  have  cherished  her!  The  priest  of  the 
men  of  iron  is  a  man  of  strong  magic.  His  vision 
has  sent  us  to  find  the  one  who  has  made  angry  the 
gods  of  our  land !  " 

"  Go  you  and  gather  pine  for  the  altar,"  said  the 
head  of  the  clan,  and  two  youths  ran  joyously  down 
the  slope ;  —  for  they  were  to  aid  in  driving  evil 
magic  from  the  valley ! 

"  This  maid  did  not  touch  those  dead  people,"  said 
Tahn-te, — "  for  that  she  must  not  suffer." 

"  You  Summer  people  are  easily  held  by  witches' 
craft,"  retorted  one  of  the  men  insolently, —  a  day 
before  he  would  only  have  addressed  Tahn-te  with 
reverence. 

"  Was  she  not  marked  for  sacrifice  at  Te-gat-ha?  " 
— "  Has  she  not  caused  the  killing  of  the  corn?" 
"Did  not  the  Navahu  men  come  to  destroy  us  because 
of  her?"  "Is  the  earth  not  angry  that  she  has 
hidden  in  the  sacred  places?  " 

These  questions  came  thick  and  fast  for  Tahn-te 


304      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


to  answer,  and  Tahn-te  held  her  hand  and  knew  there 
was  no  answer  to  be  made.  And  Phent-zha,  who 
was  the  oldest  man  there,  looked  at  him  keenly. 

"  Are  you  also  not  more  weak  in  magic  for  her 
coming  "  he  asked, — "  is  your  heart  not  grown  sick? 
The  magic  of  the  white  priest  is  against  you ;  —  and  it 
is  strong !  When  we  have  taken  the  heart  from  this 
witch,  and  you  have  again  fasted  in  the  hills,  the  sick 
land  and  the  sick  people  will  be  made  better.'' 

The  maid  looked  from  face  to  face  in  the  glare  of 
freshly  lit  torches,  and  caught  little  of  meaning  from 
the  rapid  speech.  But  no  one  touched  her,  and  she 
looked  with  confidence  into  the  eyes  of  Tahn-te.  He 
had  not  moved  from  his  tracks,  and  he  held  himself 
proudly  as  he  faced  the  man  who  had  long  wished  his 
humiliation. 

"  When  the  time  comes  to  fast  in  the  hills,  I  will 
know  it,"  he  said, — "  and  no  hand  touches  the  heart 
of  this  maid,  but  —  my  own !  " 

"  It  is  at  sunrise,"  said  the  governor,  stilled  by  the 
look  of  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  — "  a  runner  has  been  sent 
—  the  council  will  be  waiting  for  the  enchantress,  and 
the  women  to  prepare  her  will  be  waiting." 

"  I  will  lead  her,"  said  Tahn-te  and  took  her  hand, 
and  from  the  medicine  pouch  he  took  one  bead  of  the 
by-otle,  and  in  Navahu  he  bade  her  eat  of  it  in  secret, 
which  she  did  wonderingly,  and  the  men  of  the  Tain- 
tsain  clan  walked  before  and  after  them  and  held 
torches,  and  they  went  down  the  steep  of  Puye  before 
the  moon  had  touched  the  pines  of  the  western  hills. 
And  a  runner  was  sent  to  Shufinne  that  the  people 
there  might  come  and  put  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  and  her 
lover  under  the  earth  together. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


"at  the  trail's  end!" 

THE  morning  stars  were  shining  through  the 
gray  threatening  sky,  when  a  slender  blanket 
draped  figure  stepped  from  Ysobers  door- 
way into  the  dusk,  and  came  near  putting  foot  on  Don 
Ruy  Sandoval  who  lay  there  as  if  on  guard. 

There  was  a  little  gasp,  and  the  blanket  was 
clutched  more  closely. 

"Your  Excellency!"  breathed  Chico  wonderingly 
— "  awake  so  early  —  and  —  here  ?  " 

"  Awake  so  late,"  amended  his  excellency, — "  and 
is  this  not  a  good  place  to  be?  " 

"  In  truth  I  am  having  doubts  of  my  own,"  con- 
fessed the  secretary  with  attempted  lightness. 
"  What  with  barbaric  battles,  and  earth  quakings, — 
and  a  night  when  the  breath  of  volcanoes  seemed 
abroad  in  the  land  and  strange  lightenings  came  up 
from  the  earth  —  it  suggests  no  dreams  of  paradise ! 
Don  Diego  thinks  it  is  because  the  expedition  has  not 
been  more  eager  for  souls." 

"  Has  he  not  converted  Sah-pah  and  won  a  lady- 
love?" asked  Don  Ruy — "  he  is  at  least  that  much 
in  advance  of  the  rest  of  us.  I've  had  no  luck,  and 
you  are  as  much  of  a  bachelor  as  ever  you  were." 

Chico  contemplated  the  morning  star  in  silence,  and 
Don  Ruy  smiled. 

"  If  the  enchanted  ring  of  Senor  Ariosta  should 
fall  at  your  feet  from  yon  star;  —  or  the  lamp  of 

305 


306       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


Alladin  would  come  out  of  the  earth  in  one  of  these 
quakings,  what  would  you  ask  it  to  do  with  us  all, 
since  this  camp  is  not  to  your  liking?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  would  wish  you  safe  in  Mexico  with  no  sorcerer 
to  doctor  your  wounds  if  you  were  bent  on  acquiring 
such  pleasures." 

"  No  learned  professor  could  have  brought  healing 
more  quickly,"  contended  Don  Ruy, — "  and  the  sor- 
cerer, if  so  he  be,  has  given  me  food  for  thought  at 
least  Which  reminds  me  that  you  are  not  to  go  to 
the  river  mesa  this  morning  in  case  you  see  the  barba- 
rians trooping  that  way  for  ceremonies." 

A  runner  came  panting  past  them  from  towards  the 
hills,  and  the  gate  was  opened  for  him  and  closed 
again,  and  a  herald  from  the  terrace  shouted  aloud 
sentences  arousing  all  who  yet  slept ;  —  not  only  arous- 
ing them,  but  causing  unexpected  shrieks  and  cries 
of  consternation  from  many  dwellings.  There  were 
the  lamentations  of  the  old  women  of  the  Tain-tsain 
clan,  and  their  wails  sent  the  thrill  of  a  mysterious 
dread  through  the  night  that  was  dying,  for  the  day 
had  not  yet  come. 

"What  is  it  —  what?"  asked  the  secretary  in  a 
whisper  of  dread.  "You  know  what  the  thing  is; 
—  tell  me !  " 

"  Not  so  nice  a  thing  that  you  should  trade  a  con- 
vent garden  for  it,"  confessed  Don  Ruy  — "  if  the 
wishing  ring  were  mine  you  would  be  wafted  there  be- 
fore that  star  goes  pale." 

"  Oh !  " —  and  the  secretary  strove  to  assume  a 
lightness  not  to  be  honestly  felt  in  that  chorus  of 
wails.  "  You  would  make  me  a  messenger  to  your 
lady  of  the  tryst  —  and  I  would  tell  her  that  since  luck 
with  the  pagan  maids  has  not  been  to  your  fancy,  you 


"AT  THE  TRAIL'S  END"  307 


may  please  to  walk  past  her  balcony  and  again  cast 
an  eye  in  that  direction !  " 

"  And  at  the  same  time  you  might  whisper  to  her 
that  I  would  not  now  need  to  glance  at  her  the  second 
time  to  know  her,"  he  added.  "  Even  the  armor  of 
a  Bradamante  could  not  mask  her  eyes,  or  dull  for  me 
the  music  of  her  voice." 

"Excellency!" 

"  It  is  a  most  strange  place  to  make  words  for  the 
wooing  of  a  lady,  is  it  not?  " —  asked  Don  Ruy  look- 
ing up  at  the  slender  form  wrapped  in  the  blanket. 
— "  But  new  worlds  are  in  making  when  earth  quakes 
come, —  and  our  to-morrows  may  be  strange  ones,  and 
—  sweetheart  comrade,  I  have  lain  at  your  door  each 
night  since  your  head  rested  on  my  shoulder  there  in 
the  arroyo." 

Someway  Don  Ruy  made  his  arm  long  enough  to 
reach  the  blanket  and  draw  the  hesitating  figure  to 
him,  and  rested  his  cheek  against  the  russet  sandals, 
and  then  a  very  limp  Master  Chico  was  on  the  ground 
beside  him,  and  was  hearing  all  the  messages  any  lady 
of  any  balcony  would  like  Love  to  send  her. 

"  I  cannot  forgive  you  letting  me  carry  all  that 
water  for  a  fainting  fit  —  and  there  was  no  fainting 
fit !  "  she  protested  at  last, — "  all  these  days  I've  lived 
in  terror;  —  not  quite  certain !  " 

"  Think  you  nothing  of  the  uncertain  weeks  you 
have  given  me?" — he  retorted. — "I  had  my  puz- 
zled moments  I  do  assure  you!  And  now  that  I 
think  of  it  —  I'm  in  love  with  a  lady  whose  actual 
name  I  have  not  been  told!  " 

"  Are  we  not  equal  in  that?  "  she  whispered,  and  he 
laughed  and  held  her  close  as  a  bandaged  throat 
would  allow. 


308      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


"  Ruy  Sandoval  is  a  good  enough  name  to  go  to 
the  priest  with,"  he  said,  "  and  if  *  Dona  Brada- 
mante '  has  no  other  I'll  give  her  one  if  she'll  take 
it." 

"  Despite  the  Indian  grandmother,  and  the  mad- 
ness of  longing  for  life  in  the  open  —  and  < — 

"  And  the  Viceroy  and  court  of  Spain  to  boot!  "  he 
declared  recklessly.  "  Sweetheart,  I  must  have  the 
right  to  guard  you  in  a  new  way  if  need  be,  for  these 
are  strange  days." 

Even  while  they  spoke  the  stars  were  shot  over  by 
the  green  light  of  a  promised  dawn,  and  against  the 
faint  sky  line  of  the  mesa  a  strange  procession  came. 
Men  carrying  long  fringes  of  the  cedar  such  as  grow 
in  the  moist  places  in  the  canons, —  also  festoons  of 
the  ground  pine,  and  flowers  of  the  sun  with  the  bril- 
liant petals  like  warm  rays. 

The  bearers  of  these  ran  swiftly,  but  the  others 
moved  more  steadily,  and  Don  Ruy  called  to  Jose 
to  learn  for  him  the  meanings  of  things,  and  why 
Tahn-te,  the  Ruler,  walked  like  that  as  if  in  prayer, 
and  clasped  hands  with  a  girl  who  smiled  up  in  his 
face  as  a  child  on  a  holiday,  though  all  the  older 
men  looked  as  though  walking  to  battle. 

"  It  is  the  witch  maid  who  has  brought  evil  magic 
on  the  land,"  said  Jose,  who  had  heard  the  herald 
—  also  she  has  enchanted  the  Po-Ahtun-ho  with 
devil's  arts,  and  has  killed  Yahn  Tsyn-deh  and  Ka- 
ye-mo  with  Navahu  arrows  on  Puye.  They  say  she 
laughs  to  show  that  no  knife  can  harm  her,  and  she 
goes  to  the  altar  instead  of  the  Yutah;  —  for  it  is 
she  the  earth  groaned  for." 

"Go — " — said  Don  Ruy  to  his  lately  claimed 
"  Dona  Bradamante  " — "  keep  within  the  house  with 
Ysobel  until  we  come  again.    There  may  be  much  to 


"AT  THE  TRAIL'S  END "  309 


do,  Lady  mine,  but  there  are  no  records  for  you  to 
keep  this  day." 

And  without  protest  or  reply  he  was  obeyed. 
There  was  something  so  awful  in  the  sight  of  the 
smiling  maid  of  the  bluebird  wing,  and  the  wails  of 
the  women  who  mourned  those  she  had  destroyed, 
that  one  would  willingly  flee  the  sight  of  their  meet- 
ing. 

But  the  Te-hua  guards  closed  around  the  enchant- 
ress and  the  fanatics  of  vengeance  were  barred  out. 
Those  meant  for  the  Mesa  of  the  Hearts  were  not  to 
be  given  to  people! 

Publicly  the  governor  made  thanks  to  the  priest  of 
the  men  of  iron;  —  he  it  was  who  had  smelled  out 
the  witch  —  and  sent  the  men  where  her  dead  was 
found !  Plain  it  was  that  their  white  brothers  helped 
in  magic  and  in  battle.  Let  the  old  men  think  wisely 
and  well  before  they  let  such  brothers  go  from  the 
land.  For  the  angry  gods,  and  the  quaking  earth, 
the  priest  of  the  beard  had  found  the  cause;  —  also 
the  cure  had  he  found.  Did  not  the  sun  symbol  be- 
long to  this  man  for  this  work?  Let  the  old  men 
think  well  of  this  thing ! 

Don  Ruy  held  Jose  at  his  side,  and  listened,  and 
hearing  all,  he  faced  the  padre  with  the  first  anger 
they  had  seen  in  his  reckless  kindly  eyes. 

"  For  your  own  ends  of  the  gold  search  you  have 
done  this  thing?"  he  demanded.  "  To  a  death  on 
the  altar  have  you  sent  that  child-woman?  Good 
priest  of  the  church,  you  make  a  man  wonder  if  the 
saints  indeed  listen,  and  God  is  above !  " 

"  Oh  —  impious !  "  groaned  Don  Diego,  and 
crossed  himself  in  horror.  "  Oh  Excellency  —  your 
words  are  apostate  —  unsay  them  and  tempt  not  Al- 
mighty Power !  " 


310      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


The  padre  turned  pale  with  anger  and  shut  his 
teeth  close  under  the  dark  beard.  But  he  was  not  a 
coward,  and  the  habit  of  domination  through  special 
privileges  was  a  habit  of  many  years,  and  it  served 
him  against  the  merely  temporal  power  of  even  regal 
influences. 

"  Of  the  witch  creature  I  gave  them  no  word,"  he 
said  — "  it  was  their  thrice  accursed  sorcerer  they 
were  sent  in  search  of.  But  the  two  belong  to  each 
other,  and  the  old  men  of  the  order  know  now  that 
their  high  priest  is  in  league  with  devils.  Never 
again  will  he  be  the  Ruler.  His  power  is  over- 
thrown. He  cannot  save  even  his  own  witch-mate 
from  the  vengeance  of  the  clans.  The  thing  we  have 
crossed  these  deserts  for  will  be  given  to  us  since  his 
voice  against  us  is  silenced.  Is  that  a  thing  to  regret, 
Excellency?  I  thought  it  was  for  this  we  made  en- 
trance to  the  land  —  and  for  this  you  joined  hands 
for  the  expedition !  " 

He  had  recovered  his  ease  of  manner,  and  even  a 
mocking  tone  crept  into  the  final  words.  Don  Ruy 
looked  around  the  faces  of  the  Castilians  and  Mexi- 
cans and  saw  no  more  of  special  emotion  in  the  light 
of  the  gray  dawn  than  they  had  shown  at  the  dance 
of  the  scalps  in  the  glow  of  torches  so  few  hours  ago. 

To  them  all  it  was  only  a  witch  being  led  to  death, 
and  they  had  seen  that  same  thing  in  Christian  lands. 
It  was  not  a  thing  for  special  wonder, —  except  that 
this  sorceress  was  young,  and  that  she  looked  at  the 
young  Indian  Ruler,  and  smiled  often,  and  little 
sounds  like  a  mere  murmur  of  a  song  came  sometimes 
from  her  lips. 

"  Just  at  daylight  Doll  calls 
The  bluebird  has  a  voice 
His  voice  melodious 


nly  a  Witch  Led  to  Death 

Page  310 


"AT  THE  TRAIL'S  END"  311 


That  flows  in  gladness 
Doli  calls/    Doli  calls/  " 

The  guard  shrank  away  from  her  as  she  began. 
The  Navahu  captive  who  had  been  long  a  slave,  said 
it  was  the  song  of  the  Dawn,  and  that  it  was  the  last 
song  of  many  songs  which  were  part  of  the  wonderful 
"  Night  Chant  "  ceremony  of  his  people, —  it  was  a 
ceremony  to  heal  all  things  of  the  ills  of  life. 

But  despite  his  words  the  Te-hua  men  shrank  away, 
and  the  Te-hua  women  had  trembling  hands  as  they 
stripped  her,  and  crowned  her  with  the  sacred  pine, 
and  fastened  around  her  a  girdle  of  the  feathery 
young  cedar,  and  in  the  green  of  the  crown  they 
thrust  the  golden  disks  of  the  flowers  of  the  sun. 
She  lifted  the  lion  skin  from  the  ground  and  held  it 
close  as  a  garmant,  and  stood  alone  against  the  ter- 
race wall.  The  people  shrank  and  half  feared  to 
look  at  her  lest  the  Dawn  song  be  a  witch  charm  to 
enchant  them. 

Po-tzah  had  brought  to  Tahn-te  the  white  robe  of 
the  priest  who  makes  sacrifice,  and  a  long  knife  of 
white  flint  for  which  the  sheath  was  softest  of  deer- 
skin, and  the  symbols  painted  on  it  were  those  of  the 
Father  Sun  and  Mother  Moon. 

And  while  the  maid  held  close  the  garment  he  had 
given  her,  and  chanted  her  Dawn  song  dreamily, 
Tahn-te  lifted  from  the  ground  the  wing  of  the  blue- 
bird tossed  aside  by  the  medicine  women  who  made 
her  ready  for  the  sacrifice,  and  he  placed  it  in  the 
white  band  about  his  own  head  so  that  he  wore  two 
instead  of  one,  and  then  he  lifted  his  voice  and  spoke, 
and  no  other  sound  was  heard  but  his  voice,  and  the 
low  song  of  the  witch  maid. 

"  Men  of  Te-hua, "  he  said.  "  If  I  speak  not  you 
will  not  know  the  truth ;      and  it  may  be  that  you 


312      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


will  live  many  days  ere  you  believe  this  truth  !  The 
maid  who  has  come  down  from  the  hills  is  not  a 
stranger  to  Povi-whah  —  and  has  done  no  evil.  The 
daughter  of  Ka-ye-fah  is  this  maid.  She  is  Ka-ye- 
povi,  the  child  who  was  lost.  All  you  people  know 
of  the  years  of  the  grieving  of  her  father  who  was 
strong  for  that  which  was  good.  His  child  has  come 
back  to  find  her  own  people.  On  the  trail  she  was 
lost,  and  evil  magic  of  the  men  of  iron  have  made 
hard  your  hearts  when  she  came  to  you.  I  have 
waited  until  all  the  people  were  here  to  listen.  Now 
I  speak.  To  speak  at  Puye  to  the  clan  of  Tain-tsain 
would  not  have  been  wise.  They  were  sent  by  the 
vision  of  the  white  priest  to  find  a  witch  woman.  It 
is  the  child  of  Ka-ye-fah  they  find,  and  instead  of  glad 
hearts,  and  glad  speech,  she  is  given  by  the  Te-hua 
people  only  the  crown  of  the  sacred  pine.  Let  her 
own  clan  of  the  Towa  Toan  speak !  " 

A  thrill  of  wonder  ran  through  the  crowd,  but  no 
kind  faces  were  there,  and  Tahn-te  took  from  his 
medicine  pouch  the  last  seed  of  the  sacred  medicine 
given  to  man  by  the  gods.  There  had  been  many 
seeds  when  they  left  Puye.  He  knew  he  was  daring 
the  gods,  and  that  the  penalty  would  be  heavy.  But 
her  fearless  face,  and  the  music  of  her  Dawn  song 
was  payment  for  much. 

And  to  the  gods  he  would  answer ! 

The  gray  dawn  was  gone,  and  the  green  dawn  was 
merging  into  the  yellow  where  the  stars  are  lost. 

The  head  of  the  Towa  Toan  clan  spoke  from  a 
terrace. 

"  We  have  heard  the  words  of  Tahn-te.  The 
witch  maid  as  not  known  by  our  people,  and  our  clan 
does  not  claim  her!  By  evil  magic  has  the  song  of 
this  maid  blinded  the  eyes  of  Tahn-te, —  and  by  evil 


"AT  THE  TRAIL'S  END"  313 


magic  will  she  make  'desolate  the  land  if  she  is  let 
live.  The  white  priest  has  strong  medicine  < —  and 
good  medicine  of  the  gods.  The  men  of  Te-gat-ha 
and  the  men  of  Navahu  knew  her  as  a  witch,  and 
sought  her.  They  did  not  find  her  because  the  men 
of  iron  were  not  their  brothers.  To  us  they  are 
brothers.  I  give  thanks,  and  we  think  they  should 
have  that  which  they  seek  with  us.  Their  priest 
works  also  for  our  god,  and  the  symbol  of  the  god  is 
not  to  be  hidden  from  him.  Also  the  altar  waits ;  — 
and  the  stars  are  going  away !  " 

Tahn-te  touched  the  hand  of  the  maid. 

"  Come !  "  he  said  gently,  and  as  he  touched  her 
hand,  he  gave  to  her  the  last  seed  from  the  fruit  of 
the  sacred  plant, — "  eat  for  the  trail  you  must  walk 
over,  and  sing  for  me  alone  the  song  holy  of  the 
Navahu  Sun  God;  I  take  you  to  meet  him  on  the 
Mesa  of  the  Hearts." 

Don  Ruy  tried  to  press  through  the  guard,  but  the 
orders  of  the  heads  of  the  clans  had  been  strong 
orders.  The  Castilian  brothers  might  follow;  but 
the  stars  were  going  away,  and  there  was  no  time  for 
words  after  the  crown  was  made.  The  flowers  must 
not  wither  above  a  living  face. 

And  the  maid  entered  the  canoe  with  the  Po- 
Ahtun-ho  and  the  Te-hua  boatmen  plied  the  paddles 
so  that  the  crossing  was  quick,  and  all  the  others 
followed,  and  some  men  swam,  and  the  Castilian 
horses  and  riders  went  also.  And  a  second  priest  of 
the  Po-Ahtun  went  with  a  white  robe,  and  a  good 
knife  in  his  girdle.  Tahn-te  was  called  "  sorcerer  " 
by  the  wise  men  of  iron,  and  it  was  best  to  trust  not 
entirely  to  the  heart  of  a  sorcerer.  He  was  plainly 
bewitched,  and  his  heart  might  grow  weak  when  he 
looked  on  the  altar,  and  looked  on  the  maid ! 


314<      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


Tahn-te  pointed  to  the  upturned  face  of  the  God- 
Maid  on  the  bosom  of  the  south  mesa. 

"  That  was  my  altar  to  you  all  the  days  of  my  boy- 
hood," he  said  softly,  "  there  I  met  the  god  thoughts; 
there  were  the  serpents  tamed.  It  is  the  God-Maid 
of  this  valley  and  her  face  is  ever  to  the  sun.  To  her 
was  my  love  given  while  I  waited  for  your  face! 
Listen !  —  and  know  this  is  so  —  and  sing  now  the 
song  of  the  Sun  God  and  the  earth's  end." 

With  her  eyes  on  his  she  chanted  the  words,  and  the 
Te-hua  oarsmen  dared  not  look  on  her  face  for  very 
terror.  The  words  they  did  not  know  —  but  no  vie- 
tim  had  ever  yet  gone  singing  to  that  altar. 

"In  my  thoughts  I  approach  —  /  approach! 
The  Sun  God  approaches, 
Earth's  end  he  approaches. 
Estsan-atlehi  approaches 
In  old  age  walking 
The  beautiful  trail. 

In  my  thoughts  I  approach  —  /  approach! 
The  Moon  God  approaches 
Earth's  end  he  approaches  — " 

The  canoe  touched  the  shore,  and  the  maid  clasped 
the  hand  of  Tahn-te  and  went  over  the  sand  lightly 
as  a  child  who  wanders  through  flower  fields  to  a 
festival.  He  looked  in  her  eyes  and  knew  that  the 
magic  of  the  sacred  seed  was  strong,  and  that  the 
hand  of  no  man  could  hurt  her. 

"  Your  trail  is  to  the  hills,"  He  said. — "  To  the 
heart  of  the  forest  you  go.  Where  the  bluebird 
builds  her  nest  —  there  you  build  the  nest  where 
we  meet  again.  You  see  your  wings  in  my  hair? 
I  wear  both  of  them  that  they  lead  me  again  to  your 
trail  when  the  time  comes.    When  the  bluebird  calls 


"AT  THE  TRAIL'S  END"  315 


to  her  mate,  I  will  hear  your  voice  in  that  call. 
When  the  anger  of  the  gods  has  passed,  I  will  find 
you  again  in  the  Light  beyond  the  light  at  the  trail's 
end/' 

"  At  the  trail's  end,"  she  said  as  a  child  repeats  a 
lesson  — "  I  build  the  nest  for  you,  and  sing  the  blue- 
bird song  for  you  at  the  trail's  end." 

"  Thanks  to  the  gods  that  it  will  be  so,"  he  said, 
and  sprinkled  prayer  meal  to  the  four  ways. — u  The 
Spirit  People  stand  witness !  The  gods  will  be  good 
in  that  After-world;  —  I  will  find  you  again." 

They  had  reached  the  edge  of  the  mesa  —  and  the 
pale  yellow  of  the  sky  had  been  covered  with  a  weird 
murky  red.  For  all  the  many  followers,  a  strange 
hush  was  on  the  height,  and  far  in  the  south  low 
thunder  was  heard.  The  same  still,  heavy  air  of  the 
night  was  brooding  over  the  world,  and  long  rays  of 
copper  and  dull  red  were  flung  like  banners  to  the 
zenith.  Each  man's  eyes  looked  strange  questions 
into  the  eyes  of  his  neighbor,  and  the  Te-hua  men 
came  not  close  to  the  witch  maid,  and  the  man  at  the 
altar. 

"  The  Sun  God  approaches  —  approaches! 
Earth's  end  he  approaches!  " 

They  could  hear  the  low  chant  of  her  witch  song, 
and  they  could  see  Tahn-te  offer  prayer  meal  to  the 
Spirit  People  of  the  four  ways,  and  to  the  upper  and 
the  nether  world.  At  his  word  she  laid  herself  on 
the  rock,  and  no  other  priest  was  asked  to  help,  or  to 
hold  her,  and  that  was  a  sacrifice  such  as  had  never 
been  seen  in  that  place. 

"  No  hand  but  mine  shall  touch  you :  —  O  Bird  of 
my  Wilderness !  "  he  said. 

"  In  the  Light  beyond  the  light  I  wait  for  you  at 


316      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  trail's  end,"  she  said,  and  laughed  that  his  hand 
rested  on  her  breast. 

And  the  sun,  blood  red,  came  over  the  edge  of  the 
world,  and  Don  Ruy  cried  aloud  at  the  lifted  hand 
of  Tahn-te,  and  the  gleam  of  the  white  flint  knife. 

But  the  guard  closed  in,  and  one  of  his  own  men 
caught  him,  and  asked  for  pardon  afterwards,  and 
when  he  could  again  see  the  altar,  the  knife  was  red, 
and  a  heart  was  held  outward  to  the  sun  that  looked 
like  the  flame  of  burning  worlds. 

And  a  long,  shivering,  high  keyed  chant  of  the 
Te-hua  people  went  upwards  to  the  sky,  that  the  gods 
might  know  they  were  witness.  But  in  the  midst  of 
it  the  rumbling  as  of  thunder  was  under  their  feet  and 
the  earth  rocked.  Sulphurous  fumes  came  upwards 
from  the  long  closed  crevices  of  the  solitary  mesa; 
and  to  the  south  there  was  the  crash  as  of  falling 
worlds,  and  the  great  mesa  of  The  Face  lifted  before 
their  eyes,  and  settled  again  as  a  wave  of  the  river 
lifts  and  breaks  on  the  shore. 

The  chant  of  the  sacrifice  was  silenced  on  their 
lips,  and  they  fled  downward  at  that  sight,  for  the  face 
of  the  God-Maid  of  the  mesa  no  longer  looked  up- 
wards to  the  sun !  The  outline  of  the  brow,  and  the 
cheek,  and  the  dainty  woman's  chin  they  could  still 
see ;  —  but  the  face  was  turned  from  them  —  turned 
toward  the  south  —  where  the  gods  have  ever  gone 
in  an  evil  season ! 

And  only  Don  Ruy  Sandoval  saw  the  heart  put 
back  in  the  breast  of  the  witch  maid,  and  saw  her 
wrapped  in  the  white  robe  of  the  Po-Ahtun-ho,  and 
saw  the  crevice  where  the  Powers  of  the  Under-world 
had  opened  a  grave  for  her  there  on  the  Mesa  of  the 
Hearts. 

And  even  he  watched  afar  off;  for  there  was  that  in 


"AT  THE  TRAIL'S  END"  317 


the  face  of  the  Indian  priest  not  to  be  understood  by 
the  white  man  who  felt  both  pity  and  horror. 

But  he  waited  at  the  foot  of  the  mesa,  and  held  the 
canoe  while  the  Po-Ahtun-ho,  who  had  the  logic  of  a 
white  man,  but  the  heart  of  an  Indian,  came  down 
and  entered  it  in  silence,  and  as  they  crossed  the  river, 
stared  as  though  scarcely  seeing  it,  at  The  Face  now 
turned  southwards  on  the  mesa. 

"You  —  loved  her?"  said  Don  Ruy  at  last  and 
something  of  the  tone  of  a  lover  in  the  voice  made 
iTahn-te  close  his  eyes  for  a  moment,  and  then  look 
at  the  Castilian.    He  did  not  need  to  speak. 

"  Yet  —  you  could  do  —  that?  " 

"  When  the  gods  are  angered  against  earth  people, 
it  is  always  the  most  precious  they  demand  in  sacri- 
fice," he  said.  "  When  we  make  vows,  the  gods 
watch  that  we  keep  the  vows  r— •  else  we  pay,  Serior, — < 
we  pay  —  we  pay !  " 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  TAHN-TE 

VAGUE  tremblings  were  still  felt  underfoot; 
the  river  was  red  with  the  clay  of  fallen 
banks.  Smoke  came  from  an  ancient  crater 
to  the  south,  and  also  the  east,  and  above  the  Mesa 
of  the  Hearts  hung  a  cloud  of  volcanic  dust,  or  a  puff 
of  smoke  escaped  from  the  red  ash-covered  fissures  of 
the  Under-world. 

The  women  were  gathered  in  terror  in  the  court, 
but  fled  at  the  sight  of  Tahn-te.  The  anger  of  the 
earth  was  a  thing  of  fear;  but  he  was  made  see  that 
there  were  worse  things,  and  they  covered  the  faces  of 
their  children  that  his  eyes  might  not  rest  on  them. 

At  the  door  of  the  council  house  he  paused  and  Don 
Ruy  beside  him.  There  was  much  talk.  All  the 
leading  men  were  there,  also  Padre  Vicente  and  Don 
Diego.    They  entered,  and  there  was  silence. 

No  one  offered  to  Tahn-te  the  pipe,  and  no  one 
spoke  to  him. 

The  priest  of  the  New  God  had  told  them  things  — 
he  knew  men's  hearts  —  he  had  confessed  so  many! 
—  He  told  them  it  was  love  for  the  witch  maid  by 
which  the  hand  of  the  sorcerer  kept  every  other  man 
from  touching  her. —  Even  to  take  the  heart  from  her 
breast,  was  an  easier  thing  than  to  give  her  to  the  men 
of  Te-gat-ha  or  of  Povi-whah,  who  had  looked  on  her 
face  and  asked  for  her,  also  he  had  wrapped  about  her 
his  priestly  robe  of  office  before  he  laid  her  in  the 

318 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  TAHN-TE  319 


earth  where  Satan  had  broken  the  rock  to  reach  for 
her! 

Their  sorcerer  had  traded  his  robe  of  office  for  the 
evil  love  of  an  enchantress :  —  never  again  must  a 
god  be  offended  by  sound  of  his  prayers ! 

And  no  one  offered  him  the  pipe,  and  no  one  spoke 
to  him.  He  sat  alone  and  looked  with  unseeing  eyes 
at  the  weeping  god  on  the  altar. 

Padre  Vicente  was  seated  in  a  place  of  honor.  He 
looked  at  Tahn-te  across  the  circle,  and  it  was  plain 
that  the  ways  had  changed  since  that  other  day  of 
council  when  they  had  looked  into  each  others  eyes, 
and  the  pagan  had  been  the  Ruler ! 

The  right  hand  man  of  the  governor  arose.  He 
was  the  oldest  man,  and  he  spoke. 

"  While  the  earth  has  trembled  we  have  talked  — 
and  the  trembling  has  grown  little  while  we  talked," 
he  said.  "  It  is  plain  that  the  gods  have  sent  these 
signs  that  we  may  know  our  white  brothers  are  indeed 
of  the  sun,  and  the  symbol  of  the  sun  should  be  given 
to  their  keeping." 

Another  man  arose. 

"  Also  these  new  brothers  will  guard  our  fields  from 
the  Navahu  and  the  Apache,"  he  said.  "  We  will 
have  the  tamed  animals  to  ride,  and  our  enemies  will 
run  before  the  fire  sticks  our  brothers  will  give  us." 

The  governor  arose. 

"  Their  god  we  are  asked  to  take,  and  the  god  will 
do  much  for  us  if  the  sun  symbol  is  given  to  their 
keeping.  To  us  that  seems  good.  The  keepers  of 
the  sun  symbol  are  two,  and  must  be  only  two.  Let 
it  be  for  the  ancients  of  the  Po-Ahtun  to  say  which 
man  of  their  order  gives  up  the  secret,  and  makes 
medicine  to  forget  it  was  ever  in  his  keeping." 


320       THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


A  man  of  the  Po-Ahtun  stood  up  and  looked  at 
Tahn-te. 

"  A  man  and  a  woman  hold  that  secret  of  the 
symbol  of  the  god,"  he  said.  "  In  our  own  kiva  must 
that  be  spoken  of,  and  not  in  another  place.  But  the 
hearts  of  our  people  are  gentle  towards  our  new 
brothers  who  smell  out  witches,  and  do  not  mate  with 
them !  Our  order  will  surely  make  medicine  that  the 
priest  of  the  great  king  be  given  that  secret  to  keep 
for  us,  and  the  Sun  God  will  smile  again  on  our 
land." 

"  It  is  well  —  it  is  very  well,"  said  all  the  council. 
And  then  there  was  a  long  silence,  and  they  looked  at 
Tahn-te  until  he  arose. 

"  Not  except  I  die  for  you,  will  you  believe ;  — 
and  even  then  you  will  not  believe,"  he  said  in  sad- 
ness. "  You,  my  people,  will  accept  the  god  of  the 
gold  hunters,  and  you  will  not  see  that  it  is  only  riches 
they  want  at  your  hands !  In  other  years  you  will  see. 
When  the  men  of  Te-hua  work  in  chains  for  the  men 
of  Spain  —  and  for  the  masters  of  the  men  of  Spain! 
—  Then  in  that  day  will  the  men  of  Te-hua  tell  to 
their  sons  these  words  • — •  the  words  of  the  prophecy 
of  Tahn-te!" 

"  We  are  much  troubled,  and  our  hearts  are  sad," 
said  Po-tzah.  "  The  magic  of  the  white  god  is 
strong  —  and  their  priest  has  let  our  people  see  that 
it  is  strong.  We  do  not  want  that  magic  against  our 
children." 

"  Against  your  children  will  the  magic  come  in  the 
unborn  years !  "  said  Tahn-te  with  decision.  "  You 
will  take  the  god  of  the  white  man  because  one  more 
god,  or  one  more  baptism  hurts  no  man.  You  will  be 
trapped  by  fair  words  until  I  see  the  time  when  you 
can  circle  in  the  half  of  a  day  all  the  fields  you  dare 


THE  PROPHECY  OF,  TAHN-TE  321 


plant  for  your  own!  The  Flute  of  the  Gods  will  be 
silenced  in  the  land.  Your  Te-hua  daughters  will  be 
slaves  for  the  men  of  the  iron!  The  sacred  places 
will  be  feeding  lands  for  their  animals.  The  Te-hua 
priests  will  wait  the  word  of  the  white  man  ere  they 
dare  go  to  the  groves  of  the  sacred  trees  for  the 
prayer  wreaths  to  the  gods !  " 

"  The  sacred  pine  must  be  sacred  to  all  —  al- 
ways !  "  said  Po-tzah. 

"  Not  anything  is  sacred  to  the  white  men  —  I 
have  looked  in  their  books ;  —  I,  of  all  Te-hua 
men!" 

Padre  Vicente  saw  that  the  old  magic  of  the  talk- 
ing leaves  was  potent;  —  and  he  arose  without  wait- 
ing for  formal  interpretation. 

"  He  has  looked  in  the  books  with  the  eyes  of  a 
sorcerer!  "  he  declared,  thus  openly  accusing  Tahn-te 
before  the  council. — "  He  has  read  crooked  things  — 
and  his  words  are  the  words  of  the  man  who  mated 
with  the  witch  in  the  hills !  " 

The  council  stared  at  this  new  sign  that  strong 
magic  was  with  the  priest  of  the  robe  —  he  was  sud- 
denly given  knowledge  of  the  tongue  of  Te-hua! 
Don  Diego  stared  in  wonder  and  crossed  himself 
many  times. 

"  It  is  a  language  infernal  even  to  the  people  born 
to  it,"  he  gasped  — "  but  that  it  should  be  given  to 
one  of  us  on  the  day  when  we  are  openly  claimed  as 
brothers  is  a  special  sign  of  grace.  Thanks  to  the 
saints  who  sent  it  your  way  instead  of  mine !  " 

"  This  man  has  brought  evil  on  you  until  the  earth 
groans  and  turns,"  continued  the  Padre.  "  His 
mother  of  the  caves  is  called  1  holy '  and  he  is  called 
strong  in  the  light  of  the  sky :  —  But  the  sky  is  angry, 
and  the  Great  God  and  his  saints  are  angry  that  this 


322      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


sorcerer  has  cheated  you  so  long  with  enchantments 
of  the  devil !  Be  strong  for  the  saving  of  your  own 
souls,  and  leave  him  to  his  witch  mates  and  to  his 
hell! 

Even  Don  Ruy  was  astounded  that  the  padre  ad- 
dressed the  council  in  their  own  words  —  truly  of 
all  priests  ever  frocked  he  had  found  the  one  most 
subtle  for  the  work  in  hand,  for  having  gained  the 
council  —  as  it  was  easy  to  see  he  had  gained  them  — < 
Padre  Vicente  spoke  in  Castilian  to  Tahn-te. 

"  Yet  does  my  office  exact  absolution  for  you,  if 
you  but  crave  it  with  a  contrite  heart,"  he  said  for  the 
benefit  of  Don  Ruy  and  Don  Diego  who  listened. 
"  You  have  worked  for  your  devils,  and  they  have 
deserted  you,  and  stripped  you  of  power.  Acknowl- 
edge the  true  God  and  the  saints  will  intercede  for 
your  favor." 

Tahn-te  looked  at  him,  and  his  smile  was  strange. 

"  There  was  a  man  named  Judas  in  your  holy 
book,"  he  said,  "  only  silver  did  he  crave  for  his 
work.  You  are  greater  than  Judas ;  you  work  for  the 
metal  more  precious.  Is  it  thirty  pieces  you  want  ere 
you  crucify  me  utterly?  " 

The  figure  of  a  woman  darkened  the  entrance  — 
a  slender  fragile  figure  who  moved  to  him  swiftly, 
and  noted  no  others  in  the  dusk  of  the  council  house. 
In  Shufinne  the  word  had  reached  her  of  the  horror 
of  Puye  —  and  she  had  come  quickly  as  might  be,  and 
the  sound  of  his  living  voice  drew  her  breathless,  but 
thankful  to  his  side,  and  his  arm  circled  her  in  support 
and  in  tenderness  as  he  looked  over  her  head  to  the 
Te-hua  men  of  the  council. 

"  I  see  your  thoughts,  and  I  read  them,"  he  said. 
"  The  men  who  seek  the  gold  have  put  a  wall  between 
you  and  me.    That  which  you  have  you  can  give 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  TAHN-TE  323 


them;  —  but  remember  in  your  hearts  that  there  are 
things  which  belong  to  the  unborn,  and  such  things 
you  have  no  power  to  give  them  Only  so  long  as  you 
keep  your  own  religion,  and  your  own  gods,  so  long 
will  your  tribe  stand  as  a  tribe ;  —  no  longer !  Step 
by  step  your  children  will  have  to  fight  the  strangers 
for  that  which  is  now  your  own.  Only  your  god- 
thoughts  will  bind  you  as  brothers ;  —  the  god  of  the 
gold  hunters  will  poison  your  blood,  and  will  divide 
your  clans,  and  will  divide  your  children,  until  your 
names  are  forgotten  in  the  land !  " 

"  The  sorcerer  who  tells  you  this  is  the  brother  to 
the  serpents  in  the  Desert !  "  said  Padre  Vicente 
springing  to  his  feet  in  angry  impatience;  — "  enough 
of  words  have  been  said  of  this — ." 

A  sound  between  a  scream  and  a  moan  silenced  the 
words  on  his  lips,  and  Don  Ruy  felt  his  blood  run 
chill,  as  the  drooping  figure  of  the  Woman  of  the 
Twilight  stood  suddenly  upright  with  lifted  hand. 

"  Teo !  " —  she  murmured  in  utter  gladness, —  and 
moved  through  the  half  light  of  the  room  towards  the 
Castilians.  "Teo!" 

"Holy  God!"  whispered  Don  Ruy,  while  the 
padre  turned  white.  Don  Diego  stared  in  horror  — 
only  one  named  Teo  came  in  his  mind  —  the 
Greek  who  should  belong  to  the  Holy  Office  in  Se- 
ville ;  —  the  man  whose  word  even  now  was  wanted 
as  to  the  older  days  of  Christian  slave  trade  in  Eu- 
rope ! 

"  Don  Teo !  "  she  was  quite  close  to  him  now,  and 
she  spoke  as  a  trembling  child  who  craves  welcome, — 
"I  —  Mo-wa-the  —  speak !  O  Spirit;  —  you  have 
come  back  from  the  Star  —  you  have  come  — ." 

The  Te-h  i  men,  and  Tahn-te  also,  waited  in 
wonder.    Never  before  had  the  Twilight  Woman 


324      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


gone  like  that  to  a  man  —  and  she  was  so  close  that 
the  man  shrank  from  her  against  the  wall  of  the 
room. 

"Back!" — he  muttered,  and  he  spoke  Te-hua 
now,  and  his  voice  was  rough  with  rage  and  fear, — 
"  This  woman  is  evil,  and  brings  evil  power !  " 

"  She  is  the  Woman  of  the  Twilight  —  the  holy 
woman  of  the  caves,"  said  a  man  of  the  Po-Ahtun,  for 
Tahn-te  could  find  no  words  for  the  wonder  she 
wakened. 

"  She  is  an  enchantress  who  fights  against  the  true 
god  and  his  angels;  —  a  witch  of  evil  magic!" — 
and  the  padre  was  white,  and  breathing  hard  lest  she 
touch  him. 

"A  witch!" — she  echoed  in  horror. — "I? — ■ 
Teo— ." 

She  crept  to  him  in  abject  supplication  and  reached 
out  her  hand,  touching  the  sleeve  of  his  robe. 

"  Back!  " — he  shouted  in  horror  —  and  held  the 
crucifix  between  them  — "  Thing  of  the  Evil  One ! 
May  your  tongue  be  palsied  —  may  your  magic  fail 
—  may  — ." 

Tahn-te  hurled  him  aside,  and  caught  his  mother  as 
she  fell;  and  the  padre  leaned  half  fainting  against 
the  wall,  with  great  beads  of  sweat  standing  on  his 
face,  and  the  crucifix  still  lifted  as  a  barrier  or  as  a 
threat. 

But  the  threat  was  useless  to  the  slender  creature  of 
the  caves. 

"Teo  —  Teo!"  she  whispered,  and  then 
"  Tahn-te,"  and  then  the  breath  went,  and  her  son  laid 
her  gently  on  the  floor,  while  the  padre  regarded  him 
with  a  new  horror!  Don  Ruy  watching  them  both, 
choked  back  an  oath  at  the  revelation  in  the  white 
face. 


J^ackI  Thing  of  the  Evil  One  !  " 

Pag t324- 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  TAHN-T^  325 


The  Te-hua  men  also  drew  away ;  —  even  Po-tzah 
averted  his  face  when  Tahn-te  looked  from  one  to  the 
other! 

Again  had  their  eyes  seen  the  strength  of  the  white 
medicine  god.  The  holy  Woman  of  the  Twilight 
had  been  destroyed  before  their  eyes.  It  was  the 
greatest  magic  thay  had  yet  seen ! 

Tahn-te  saw  it,  and  knew  it ;  and  felt  as  he  had  felt 
when  a  boy,  and  he  had  stood  alone  and  apart  —  the 
only  child  of  the  sky.  He  had  come  again  into  his 
own !    He  was  akin  to  none  of  earth's  children. 

Then  the  man  of  the  Po-Ahtun  spoke. 
Two  there  were  who  held  the  secret  of  the  sun 
symbol;  —  Now  there  is  only  one, —  she  has  taken  it 
through  the  Twilight  Land  to  the  Light  beyond  the 
light." 

"Two?" — said  Don  Ruy — "and  this  woman 
was  one?    And  the  other?  " 

No  one  spoke,  but  Tahn-te  looked  at  him;  and 
again  there  was  no  need  for  words. 

"  Medicine  can  be  made  to  make  a  man  forget," 
said  Tahn-te  to  the  men  of  Te-hua  — "  but  no  medi- 
cine can  be  made  to  make  a  man  remember!  One 
keeper  of  the  secret  is  dead  by  the  magic  of  the  white 
priest.  Your  children's  children  will  give  thanks  in 
the  days  to  come  that  it  was  not  given  to  the  men  of 
iron." 

It  is  a  secret  of  the  tribe !  "  protested  the  man  of 
the  Po-Ahtun. 

It  is  now  the  secret  of  the  god  who  hid  it  in  the 
earth,"  said  Tahn-te.  "  By  all  earth  people  who 
knew  it  —  it  has  been  forgotten !  " 

"  But  —  without  it  we  will  lose  our  brothers  of  the 
new  god!  " 

"  Without  it  you  will  surely  lose  your  brothers  of 


326      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  new  god !  "  he  assented.  "  Each  time  you  look  on 
the  God-Maid  of  the  mesa  who  has  turned  away  her 
face,  you  will  remember  the  prophecies  of  Tahn-te! 
Each  time  the  God  of  Young  Winter  paints  leaves 
yellow  for  the  sleep  to  come,  your  children  will  see  a 
sign  on  the  mountain  to  tell  them  that  Tahn-te  was 
indeed  Brother  to  the  Serpent  as  that  man  said  in  his 
mocking !  —  also  that  the  prayers  of  Tahn-te  do  not 
end.  Free  I  came  from  the  Desert  to  you,  and  I 
carried  the  Flute  of  the  Gods,  and  fruit  for  your 
children :  — ■  free  I  go  out  from  your  dwellings  and 
carry  my  *  witch  mother  '  to  rest!  M 

He  gathered  her  in  his  arms,  and  looked  once  into 
the  pallid  face  of  her  accuser  and  destroyer.  At  that 
look  from  the  pagan  priest  the  white  priest  shrank 
ana  covered  his  face  with  the  cowl. 

"You  — go?"  said  Fo-tzah. 

"  In  the  place  of  Povi-whah  another  will  hear  your 
prayers  to  the  gods,  and  I  —  Tahn-te  the  outcast  — 
I  got" 

No  more  words  were  spoken  among  the  men  of  the 
council.  In  silence  they  watched  him  as  he  walked 
with  his  burden  up  the  trail  of  the  mesa  where  he  had 
run  so  gladly  to  make  his  boy  vow  at  the  shrine. 

No  happy  sign  shone  for  him  this  time  in  the 
sky.  It  was  as  he  said  to  Don  Ruy;  —  those  who 
make  vows  to  the  gods, —  and  forget  them  for  earth 
people,  pay  —  and  pay  prices  that  are  heavy !  But 
above  him  a  bird  swept  into  the  golden  sky.  He 
put  up  his  hand  to  the  wings  in  his  hair  —  and 
heard  plainly  the  words  of  the  mate  who  would  wait 
his  call  at  the  trail's  end. 

And  Don  Ruy  Sandoval  watched  the  man  called 
"  sorcerer "  out  of  sight,  and  then  went  to  the 
dwelling   of   Jose    and   gathered   to    his  breast 


n 


AHN-TE  ;  THE  OUTCAST 
Page  326 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  TAHN-TE  327 


the  secretary  who  had  adopted  blanket  draperies. 

"  Sweetheart  comrade,"  he  said  without  proper  pre- 
lude or  preparation  — "  There  is  not  anything  in  this 
weary  world  worth  living  for  but  Love,  and  Love 
alone.  Shall  we  take  the  homeward  journey  and  go 
where  we  can  guard  it?  " 

"  There  are  tears  in  your  eyes,"  said  his  "  Dona 
Bradamante," — "  and  you  look  as  if  you  make  love  to 
me,  yet  think  of  some  other  thing!  " 

"  I  have  seen  a  man  live  through  hell  this  day,"  he 
answered.  "  Never  ask  me,  Sweetheart  —  what  the 
hell  was.  It  is  beyond  belief  that  a  man  could  live  it, 
and  continue  to  live  after  it." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


THE  BLUEBIRD'S  CALL 

EVEN  in  the  long  after  years  in  stately  Chris- 
tian Spain,  Don  Ruy  was  a  silent  man  when 
his  serene  lady  in  stiff  brocades  and  jewelled 
shoes  would  mock  at  court  pageantry  and  sigh  for  the 
reckless  days  when  she  had  worn  the  trappings  of  a 
page  and  followed  his  steps  into  the  north  land  of 
barbaric  mysteries. 

Mystery  much  of  it  had  remained  for  her!  The 
life  of  the  final  days  in  the  terraced  village  by  the 
great  river  had  been  masked  and  cloaked  for  her. 
lYsobel  and  Jose  had  been  silent  guards,  and  Don  Ruy 
could  not  be  cajoled  into  speech  ! 

But  there  had  been  a  morning  he  suddenly  became 
a  very  compelling  commander  for  all  of  them;  and 
his  will  was  that  the  cavalcade  head  for  the  south  and 
Mexico  as  quickly  as  might  be,  and  that  Padre  Vicente 
de  Bernaldez  separate  from  them  all  and  seek  con- 
verts where  he  would.  A  horse  and  food  was  al- 
lowed to  him,  but  no  other  thing. 

Don  Diego  exclaimed  with  amazement  at  such  ar- 
rangement, and  warned  Don  Ruy  that  the  saints 
above,  and  Mother  Church  in  Spain,  would  demand 
account  for  such  act  on  the  part  of  even  Don  Ruy 
Sandoval ! 

"  Is  it  indeed  so  ?  "  asked  Don  Ruy,  and  smiled 
with  a  bitter  meaning  as  he  looked  on  the  padre :  — 
"  Will  you,  senor  priest,  tell  this  company  it  is  at 

328 


THE  BLUEBIRD'S  CALE  329 


your  own  will  and  request  that  you  remain  in  this  land 
of  the  barbarians?  Or  is  your  mind  changed,  and 
do  you  fancy  Seville  as  a  pleasant  place  for  *J 
journey?  " 

But  Padre  Vicente  turned  the  color  of  a  corpse,  and 
said  openly  before  them  all,  that  he  asked  freedom 
to  journey  to  other  Indian  villages.  Thus,  white  and 
silent  he  was  let  go.  He  went  without  farewell.  If 
he  found  other  villages  none  can  tell,  but  the  men  of  a 
great  Order  framed  before  the  building  of  the  Egyp- 
tian pyramids,  do  know  that  the  traces  of  a  like  Order 
is  to-day  in  one  of  the  villages  of  that  province  of 
New  Spain,  and  that  there  is  legend  of  a  white  priest 
who  lived  in  their  terraces  of  the  mesa,  and  taught 
them  certain  things  of  the  strange  outside  world  so 
long  as  they  let  him  live.  But  his  name  is  not  re- 
membered by  men. 

What  Don  Ruy  Sandoval  said  to  the  Viceroy  ol 
Mexico  on  his  return,  was  in  private  conference,  but 
a  royal  galleon  carried  him,  and  carried  a  strangely 
found  Mexic  bride,  across  the  wide  seas  to  Spain, 
where  the  wonderful  "  Relaciones  "  were  made  the 
subject  of  much  converse,  but  never  printed,  and  dur- 
ing the  lifetime  of  the  adventurer  called  Ruy  Sandoval, 
the  province  of  New  Spain  along  the  Rio  Grande  del 
Norte  was  locked  and  barred  against  the  seeker  of 
gold  or  of  souls  —  it  was  the  closed  land  of  mystery : 
—  the  province  of  sorcerers,  where  Mother  Earth  hid 
beneath  her  heart  the  symbol  of  the  Sun  Father. 

But  there  are  legends  there  in  the  valley  of  the  Te- 
hua  people  to  tell  of  that  time  of  trial  three  centuries 
ago.  Also  there  are  the  records  written  on  mesa  and 
mountain.  In  the  time  of  that  far  away,  the  Spirit 
People  worked  together  on  Na-im-be  Mountain  until 
of  the  evergreen  pine,  a  giant  figure  of  a  man  grew 


330      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


there,  and  around  him  is  growing  the  white  limbs  and 
yellow  leaves  of  the  aspen  groves.  The  hands  of 
that  figure  reach  high  overhead  and  are  to  the  south, 
and  they  hold  the  great  Serpent  whose  body  is  as  a 
strung  bow  in  its  arch,  and  whose  head  is  high  on  the 
hill  where  the  enchanted  lake,  known  by  every  one, 
reflects  the  sky.  Tahn-te,  whose  mother  was  the 
Woman  of  the  Twilight,  said  the  God  of  Winter 
would  send  a  sign  that  the  people  might  know  the 
ancient  worship  of  the  creeping  Brother  was  a  true 
thing  —  and  so  it  was  done  —  all  men  can  see  it  when 
the  Spirit  People  turn  yellow  the  leaves. 

Other  things  spoken  by  him  have  come  true  until 
the  Te-hua  priests  know  that  one  born  of  a  god  did 
once  live  among  them  as  a  boy  and  as  a  man. 

Like  children  bewildered  did  the  clans  of  Povi- 
whah  watch  the  silent  swift  departure  of  their  white 
brothers  from  whom  they  had  hoped  much.  They 
thought  of  many  things  and  had  trouble  thoughts 
while  they  waited  until  the  mourning  of  Tahn-te  in 
the  hills  would  be  over,  and  he  would  come  again  to 
their  councils.  But  when  the  waiting  had  been  so 
long  that  fear  touched  their  hearts,  then  men  of  the 
highest  medicine  sought  for  him  in  the  hills,  that  his 
fasts  be  not  too  long,  and  he  be  entreated  to  return :  — 
that  turned-away  face  of  the  God-Maid  on  the  mesa 
made  their  hearts  weak,  and  they  needed  the  strong 
prayers  of  Tahn-te.  His  name  meant  the  Sunlight, 
and  their  minds  were  in  shadow  after  his  going  away. 

With  prayer  words  and  prayer  music  they  sought 
for  him,  and  sacred  pollen  was  wafted  to  the  four 
ways,  and  all  the  ways  of  the  Spirit,  that  the  help  of 
the  Lost  Others  might  come  also. 

They  told  each  other  of  the  promise  of  Po-se-yemo 
and  of  Ki-pah,  that  in  each  time  of  stress  a  leader 


THE  BLUEBIRD'S  CALL  331 


who  was  god-sent  would  come  to  the  Te-hua  people 
so  long  as  they  were  faithful  to  the  Things  of  the 
Spirit. 

This  had  truly  been  a  season  of  stress,  and  an  ap- 
peal of  new,  strange  gods! 

Tahn-te,  the  leader,  had  been  born  and  had  come 
to  them ;  the  Flute  of  the  Ancient  Gods  he  had  carried 
as  the  Sign !  —  and  as  they  whispered  it  to  each  other, 
their  eyes  had  a  new  terror,  and  they  sought  wildly 
for  reasons  to  justify  themselves. 

He  had  come.  They  had  choice,  and  they  chose 
the  new  white  brothers,  and  the  new  god  promises! 

He  had  come ;  —  and  they  had  closed  their  hearts 
against  his  words  —  they  had  driven  him  away  as 
in  other  days  the  Ancient  Fathers  had  driven  Po-se- 
yemo  to  the  south :  —  for  the  gods  only  live  where 
the  hearts  of  men  are  true,  and  strong,  and  of  faith ! 

These  things  they  had  been  told  by  the  Ancients, 
but  they  remembered  it  now  anew  as  they  followed 
each  other  in  silence  to  the  hills,  and  to  the  white 
walls  of  Puye  —  and  to  the  tomb  there  newly  built 
that  the  Woman  of  the  Twilight  might  rest  where 
her  people  had  lived  in  the  lost  centuries. 

The  portal  of  it  was  closed,  and  the  sign  of  her 
order  was  cut  in  the  rock  at  the  portal. 

The  priests  made  many  prayers,  but  no  trace  of  the 
lost  Ruler  could  they  find.  All  was  silence  in  that 
place  of  the  dead,  but  for  the  song  of  a  bluebird 
flitting  from  one  ancient  dwelling  to  another. 

Younger  men  went  far  to  the  west  where  the 
people  of  the  Hopi  mesas  had  loved  him;  —  some- 
where in  the  world  he  must  be  found ! 

But  the  Hopi  people  mourned  also,  for  they  had 
heard  the  strange  call  of  a  flute  across  the  sands  in  the 
night  time,  and  had  feared  to  answer  to  the  call,  and  in 


332      THE  FLUTE  OF  THE  GODS 


the  morning  there  was  no  sound  of  the  flute,  and  no 
priest  of  the  flute  to  be  found:  —  only  a  trail  across 
the  desert  sand  —  and  the  trail  led  the  way  of  the  sun 
trail,  and  the  Winds  of  the  Four  Ways  blew,  and 
swept  it  from  sight  —  and  they  knew  in  their  hearts 
that  Tahn-te  had  sent  his  good-bye  call  ere  he  went 
from  the  land  of  men  to  the  land  of  gods. 

They  knew  also  that  he  went  alive  —  for  the  god- 
born  do  not  die. 

This  word  the  couriers  took  back  to  the  Te-hua 
people  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  fires  were  lit  for  him 
as  they  have  been  lighted  for  centuries  that  the  god 
Po-se-yemo  might  know  that  their  faith  in  the  valley 
of  the  great  river  was  yet  strong  for  the  ancient  gods. 

Three  centuries  of  the  religion  of  the  white 
strangers  have  not  made  dim  the  signal  fires  to  those 
born  of  the  sky ! 

The  walls  of  Povi-whah  have  melted  again  into 
Mother  Earth.  Silent  are  the  groves  where  the 
Ancient  Others  carved  their  homes  from  the  rock 
walls  of  the  heights.  Wings  of  vivid  blue  flit  in  the 
sunlight  from  the  portal  of  the  star  to  bough  of  the 
pinon  tree  —  and  a  brooding  silence  rests  over  those 
high  levels ;  —  only  the  wind  whispers  in  the  pines, 
and  the  old  Indians  point  to  the  bird  of  azure  and  tell 
of  a  Demon-maid  who  came  once  from  the  land  of 
the  Navahu,  and  wore  such  wings,  and  sang  a  song  of 
the  blue  bird,  and  enchanted  a  god-born  one  with  her 
promise  to  build  a  nest  and  wait  for  him  —  at  the 
trail's  end! 

An  ancient  teller  of  Te-hua  legends  will  add  that 
the  trail  of  Tahn-te  was  covered  by  the  sands  of  the 
Four  Ways  and  no  living  people  ever  again  looked 
on  his  face, —  and  that  the  Te-hua  priests  say  the 
strong  god  of  the  men  of  iron  swept  him  into  the 


^^nly  a  Trail  Across  the  Desert  Sands 

Page  332 


THE  BLUEBIRD'S  CALL  333 

Nothing  because  he  alone  stood  against  the  new  faith 
in  that  time  of  trial. 

The  teller  of  tales  does  not  know  if  this  be  true 
or  not  —  all  gods  can  be  made  strong  by  people,  and 
it  is  not  good  to  battle  against  the  god  of  a  strong 
people :  —  they  can  send  strange  sorceries  and  wild 
temptings,  and  the  Navahu  maid  had  such  charm  she 
was  never  forgotten  by  men  who  looked  upon  her 
face.  It  is  also  well  known  that  the  bluebird  is  a 
sacred  bird  for  medicine,  and  does  call  at  every 
dawn  on  those  heights,  and  the  wings  worn  in  the 
banda  of  Tahn-te  might,  through  strong  love,  have 
become  a  true  charm ;  —  and  might  have  led  him  at 
last  to  the  nest  of  the  witch  maid  in  some  wilderness 
of  the  Far  Away;  —  who  can  tell? 

But  all  men  know  that  the  prophecies  of  Tahn-te 
are  true  to-day  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  — 
and  that  his  vision  was  the  vision  of  that  which  was 
to  be. 

AUksai! 


GLOSSARY 


Alikasai! " 


Alvarado,  Hernando  de 

Atoki 

Ah-ko 

Apache 

Awh-we 

By-otle  (see  Py-otle). 
Chinig-Chinik 

Chilan  Balam 

Ci-bo-!a 


Ci-cu-ye 

"Cabeza  de  Vaca"', 


Dok-os-lid 
Doli 

Estsan-atlehi 
Go-he-yahs 

*  Han-na-di 

Set-en-dah-nh! 
Hopi  or  H6pitu 


Ho-tiwa 

Kat-yi-ti 

Ka-yemo 

Kah-po 

Ki-pah 

Kat-yi-mo 


Hopi  ceremonial  word  for  a  story 
telling,  equivalent  to  "Once  upon 
a  time,"  or  "Thus  it  was." 

A  lieutenant  of  Coronado,  1540. 

The  Crane. 

Acoma,  N.  M.,  a  village  of  the  Queres 
people. 

A  warrior  tribe  of  Athapascan  stock 

in  Arizona. 
"Mountain  Place." 

A  Pacific  coast  tribe  of  Nature  wor- 
shippers. 

Indian  priest  and  prophet.  16th  Cen- 
tury. 

Zuni,  N.  M.  The  only  surviving  vil- 
lage of  the  "  Seven  Cities  of  Ci- 
bola "  of  the  early  Spanish  chron- 
icles. 

Indian  village  and  river.  Pecos,  N. 
M. 

Alvar  Nunez:  —  the  first  European 
to  cross  the  land  and  make  record 
of  the  natives  of  the  Arizona  re- 
gion. (1528-36). 

Navaho  sacred  mountain  of  the  west. 
San  Francisco  Mt,  Arizona. 

The  blue  bird.  (Navaho). 

Navaho  Earth  Goddess. 

Spirit  People,  or  mediators  between 
earth  people  and  the  Sun  Father. 

Te-hua  ceremonial  beginning  of  a 
legend  or  sacred  myth  story. 

The  desert  people  of  Tusayan,  often 
named  Moki  or  Moqui  by  outsiders 
or  tribal  enemies. 

Arrows  (being)  made. 

Cochiti  Pueblo,  N.  M. 

Falling  leaves. 

Santa  Clara  Pueblo,  N.  M. 

A  legendary  civilizer  and  prophet  of 
Te-hua  people. 

The    solitary    "  Mesa  Enchanted," 
three  miles  north  of  Acoma. 
335 


386 


GLOSSARY 


Ka-ye-povi 

Ka-ye-fah 

Koh-pe 

Khen-yah 

Le-lang-uh 


"  Lost  Others." 

Lo-lo-mi, 

Mo-wa-the 
"Mother  of  the 

Skirt" 
''Moon   of  the 

Leaves  " 
Navahu 

Na-im-be 
Na-hual 

Oj-ke 
O-ye-tza 
Oh-we-tahnh 
Po-son-ge 

Po-Ahtun 


Po-Ahtun-ho 

Po-se-yemo 

Povi-whah 

Po-tzah 

Po-pe-kan-eh 

Po-eh-hin-cha 

Po-etse 

Po-ho-ge 

Phen-tza 

Pin-pe-ye 


Pu-ye 


=2  Spirit  Blossom. 
=  Wings  of  the  Spirits. 
s=  Red  shell  beads. 
=  Shaking  trail. 

=  The  Spirit  Leader  of  the  Flute  Cere- 
mony for  rain  in  the  desert.  He 
was  the  first  to  make  prayers 
through  the  reed  to  the  Spirit  Peo- 
ple of  the  Elements.  The  gods 
granted  the  prayer,  and  the  Sa- 
cred Order  of  the  Flute  was  insti- 
tuted.   It  exists  to-day  in  Tusayan. 

=  Those  who  have  gone  from  earth  life 
to  the  spirit  land. 

=  A  Hopi  word  indicating  that  all  is 
good  or  beautiful. —  A  blessing. 

=  Flash  of  Light. 
Starry=  Milky  Way. 

Yellow=  September. 

=rNavaho,  a  nomadic  tribe  of  Athapas- 
can stock  in  Arizona. 

=  Nambe  Pueblo,  N.  M. 

=  Spirit  Ministrant,  or  unexpressed 
personal  power. 

=  San  Juan  Pueblo,  N.  M. 

==  White  Ice. 

=  Indian  writing.  (Pictographs) 
=  "The    river    that    is    great,"  Rio 
Grande. 

=  An  esoteric  cult  known  from  N.  M. 

to  Central  America.    The  Lords  of 

the  Water  and  the  Four  Winds. 
=  The  high  priest  of  the  order.  The 

spiritual  ruler. 
= "  Dew  of  Heaven."   The  earth-born 

Te-hua  Christ. 
=  Moving  Blossom. 
=  White  Water. 

=  "  Where  the  water  is  born."  Springs 
at  the  foot  of  Tse-come-u-pin. 

=  Santa  Clara  creek,  N.  M. 

=  Box  Canon,  Santa  Clara  Creek. 

=  San  Ildefonso  Pueblo,  N.  M. 

=  Yellow  Mountain. 

=  An  instrument  of  grooved  stone  and 
a  reed,  by  which  astronomical  cal- 
culations were  made  by  the  Milky 
Way  and  stars. 

=  A  cliff  dwelling  on  Santa  Clara  Res- 
ervation, N.  M. 


Py-otle 


Quetzal-coatl 
Qui-ve  ra 
Queres 


Sah-pah 

Saa-hanh-que-ah 
Sea  of  Cortez, 
Se-po-chineh 

Sik-yat-ki: 

Sten-ahtlihan 

Sinde-hesi 

Shu-finne 

So-ho-dah-tsa 
Ta-ah-quea 
Tahn-te 
Tain-tsain  Clan 
Te-hua 


Te-get-ha 


Tiguex 


Te-tzo-ge 
Tsa-mah 


Tsa-fahi 
Tse-ye 

Tse-come-u-pin 

Towa  Toan  Clan 
Tusayan 


Tuyo. 


GLOSSARY  SSI 

=  A  powerful  drug  known  by  Indian 
medicine  men  from  the  great  lakes 
to  Yucatan. 

=  A  God  of  Light  of  Mexico. 

=  A  mythic  land  of  gold  in  the  desert. 

=  or  Que-ran-na.  An  ancient  house 
building  people  of  N.  M.  Their 
principal  pueblo  is  Acoma  — "  The 
sky  dwellings  of  White." 

=  The  Frost. 

—  The  Woman  of  the  Twilight. 
=  Gulf  of  California. 

=  The  Place  of  Ancient  Fire,  a  sacred 
mountain,  Mt.  Taylor,  N.  M. 

=  A  ruin  in  the  Tusayan  desert,  near 
Walpi,  Arizona. 

=  The  supreme  goddess  of  the  Apache 
pantheon. 

=  The   Ancient   Father:  —  the  Power 

back  of  the  Sun. 
=  A   pre-historic    cliff    dwelling  near 

Pu-ye,  N.  M. 
=  Dark  Cloud. 

=  The  Goddess  of  the  Young  Summer. 
=  Light  of  the  Sun. 
=  Antelope  Clan. 

== "  Children  of  the  Sun."  A  house 
building  people  of  the  Tanoan 
Group,  Rio  Grande  valley,  N.  M. 

=  Taos  Pueblo,  N.  M.  One  of  the  best 
examples  of  the  terraced,  five  sto- 
ried, pre-Columbian  architecture, 
still  inhabited. 

=  A  ruin  near  Bermalillo,  N.  M.,  called 
by  the  natives  Po-ri-kun-neh :  — 
"  the  Place  of  the  Butterflies." 

=  Tesuque  Pueblo,  N.  M. 

=  A  Te-hua  village  at  the  junction  of 
the  Tsa-mah  and  Rio  Grande,  now 
Chamita,  N.  M.,  interesting  as  the 
site  of  the  first  colony  of  Spanish 
pioneers  in  N.  M.  1591. 

=  Chicken  Hawk. 

=  Canon  de  Chelle,  Arizona.  The  home 
of  the  Navaho  Divine  Ones. 

=  A  sacred  mountain  west  of  Pu-ye, 
N.  M. 

—  High  Mesa  Clan. 

=  Province  of.  A  territory  in  North- 
ern Arizona,  now  the  Hopi  Indian 
Reservation. 

=  The  "  Black  Mesa  "  of  San  Ildefonso, 

.  ,   ^.  M. 


338  GLOSSARY 

Ui-la-ua  =  Picuris  Pueblo,  N.  M. 

Ua-lano  =  Jemez  Pueblo,  N.  M. 

[Walpi  =The   ancient    stone   village   of  the 

"First  Mesa"  in  Tusayan. 
Yahn  Tsyn-deh  =  Willow  Bird. 

Yutah  =Ute,  a  Colorado  tribe  of  the  Sho- 

sone  linguistic  stock. 


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